Quotable: Chris Matthews

"If nothing else, I think this (Hurricane Sandy event) is going to sap some of the poison out of this race." HA! Chris, the perennial political ingenue, desperately clutching his rose-colored glasses. Oh Chris, I believe Mitt The LYING PSYCHOTIC TWIT has a $10,000 bet he'd like to make with you.

Sandy Bears Down On The East Coast

FROM THE LATEST FORECAST, IT APPEARS HURRICANE SANDY is going to SLAM the Jersey Shore, in the vicinity of Atlantic City, around Cape May, later this evening. Those residents of the outlying areas along the Jersey shore who didn't heed Gov. Christie's "DON'T BE STOOPID" warning are now regretting their decision to "ride it out," as related to one reporter, for in some cases their escape route is already cut off by rising waters. Anyone familiar with the Jersey Shore knows that area is as flat as a pancake, with nothing but sand dunes and narrow beaches. I hope folks with a death wish who decided to stay don't come to harm, but they really should have listened to their governor. In New York City, there is a real flooding danger, as the reader photo below attests. This is a really cool feature of the Times: Dozens of reader pictures. Check it out:

Riverside Park in NYC, at 9 AM around 80th Street.

The Mitt Files: Things The Idiot Punditocracy Won't Tell You; But We Will

ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT MITT ROMNEY EXHIBITS ALL THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SOCIOPATH, EVERY MSNBC PRIME TIME HOST is, at least, on the same page regarding Romney and his serial lies. Except, that is, Chris Matthews, who has censored the word on his show, forced Joan Walsh to use the RIDICULOUS euphemism "dissembling," and assumed the pompous body language of his wingnut sidekick, Bill-O The Clown. Beyond the LIES and the arrogant stealth campaign generating much faux handwringing among the Beltway elites, though, this media malpractice — like MSNBC's whitewash "respect" the candidates ads — extends to a total blackout of the REAL Mitt Romney. Stop asking the question, ASSHOLES, you know exactly what I'm saying and WHAT he is.

Mitt Romney was a homophobe from way back, and quite openly, too. It's not only the cruelty he exhibited leading a posse of gay bashers to cut a young man's hair, traumatizing him for life. This rotten ratbastard was proud of his homophobic pranks, so much so that it occupied a prominent corner of his yearbook. Check out this lovely limpwrist photo of the RomBot, student homophobe: (Hmm ... Mitt's lifelong obsession with the gay may indicate unresolved repressed identity issues.)

 Then, apparently the major MSM Media outlets, including MSNBC/Matthews in particular (Big Eddie, Rachel and Lawrence have done yeoman's work within the bounds permitted by their corporate masters), were too compulsively preoccupied with polls and the horse race to even consider this story, broken by that great news organization, TMZ. (Sadly, I'm not being ironic.) Hot off the presses, TMZ reports that Romney lied “under oath when he testified in the divorce of his good friend and screwed the friend's wife out of a lot of money in the process,” according to the wife of the founder of Staples. Can't say I'm surprised. Read all about it here.

And as we face impeding catastrophe for residents of the East Coast from the MEGASTORM Sandy, which will doubtless keep President Obama busy and mobilize all of FEMA's resources to coordinate the federal response to this extreme weather emergency, here's what Romney said about the need for FEMA: (I should add that Paulie The Objectivist Munster and his teabagger cohorts in Congress cut funding for our national weather service satellites and early warning system.)

Music Break: The Fever Pistol!

INDIE FEMINIST ROCK BAND THE FEVER PISTOL CASTRATES WINGNUTS WITH THEIR NEW SONG, "RICH BOYS WILL BE BOYS." I LOVE politically-tuned bands!

New York Times Endorses President Obama

AS EXPECTED — HERE IT IS:

Barack Obama for Re-Election

The economy is slowly recovering from the 2008 meltdown, and the country could suffer another recession if the wrong policies take hold. The United States is embroiled in unstable regions that could easily explode into full-blown disaster. An ideological assault from the right has started to undermine the vital health reform law passed in 2010. Those forces are eroding women’s access to health care, and their right to control their lives. Nearly 50 years after passage of the Civil Rights Act, all Americans’ rights are cheapened by the right wing’s determination to deny marriage benefits to a selected group of us. Astonishingly, even the very right to vote is being challenged.

That is the context for the Nov. 6 election, and as stark as it is, the choice is just as clear.

President Obama has shown a firm commitment to using government to help foster growth. He has formed sensible budget policies that are not dedicated to protecting the powerful, and has worked to save the social safety net to protect the powerless. Mr. Obama has impressive achievements despite the implacable wall of refusal erected by Congressional Republicans so intent on stopping him that they risked pushing the nation into depression, held its credit rating hostage, and hobbled economic recovery.

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has gotten this far with a guile that allows him to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear. But he has tied himself to the ultraconservative forces that control the Republican Party and embraced their policies, including reckless budget cuts and 30-year-old, discredited trickle-down ideas. Voters may still be confused about Mr. Romney’s true identity, but they know the Republican Party, and a Romney administration would reflect its agenda. Mr. Romney’s choice of Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate says volumes about that.

We have criticized individual policy choices that Mr. Obama has made over the last four years, and have been impatient with his unwillingness to throw himself into the political fight. But he has shaken off the hesitancy that cost him the first debate, and he approaches the election clearly ready for the partisan battles that would follow his victory.

We are confident he would challenge the Republicans in the “fiscal cliff” battle even if it meant calling their bluff, letting the Bush tax cuts expire and forcing them to confront the budget sequester they created. Electing Mr. Romney would eliminate any hope of deficit reduction that included increased revenues.

In the poisonous atmosphere of this campaign, it may be easy to overlook Mr. Obama’s many important achievements, including carrying out the economic stimulus, saving the auto industry, improving fuel efficiency standards, and making two very fine Supreme Court appointments.

Health Care

Mr. Obama has achieved the most sweeping health care reforms since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. The reform law takes a big step toward universal health coverage, a final piece in the social contract.

It was astonishing that Mr. Obama and the Democrats in Congress were able to get a bill past the Republican opposition. But the Republicans’ propagandistic distortions of the new law helped them wrest back control of the House, and they are determined now to repeal the law.

That would eliminate the many benefits the reform has already brought: allowing children under 26 to stay on their parents’ policies; lower drug costs for people on Medicare who are heavy users of prescription drugs; free immunizations, mammograms and contraceptives; a ban on lifetime limits on insurance payments. Insurance companies cannot deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Starting in 2014, insurers must accept all applicants. Once fully in effect, the new law would start to control health care costs.

Mr. Romney has no plan for covering the uninsured beyond his callous assumption that they will use emergency rooms. He wants to use voucher programs to shift more Medicare costs to beneficiaries and block grants to shift more Medicaid costs to the states.

The Economy

Mr. Obama prevented another Great Depression. The economy was cratering when he took office in January 2009. By that June it was growing, and it has been ever since (although at a rate that disappoints everyone), thanks in large part to interventions Mr. Obama championed, like the $840 billion stimulus bill. Republicans say it failed, but it created and preserved 2.5 million jobs and prevented unemployment from reaching 12 percent. Poverty would have been much worse without the billions spent on Medicaid, food stamps and jobless benefits.

Last year, Mr. Obama introduced a jobs plan that included spending on school renovations, repair projects for roads and bridges, aid to states, and more. It was stymied by Republicans. Contrary to Mr. Romney’s claims, Mr. Obama has done good things for small businesses — like pushing through more tax write-offs for new equipment and temporary tax cuts for hiring the unemployed.

The Dodd-Frank financial regulation was an important milestone. It is still a work in progress, but it established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, initiated reform of the derivatives market, and imposed higher capital requirements for banks. Mr. Romney wants to repeal it.

If re-elected, Mr. Obama would be in position to shape the “grand bargain” that could finally combine stimulus like the jobs bill with long-term deficit reduction that includes letting the high-end Bush-era tax cuts expire. Stimulus should come first, and deficit reduction as the economy strengthens. Mr. Obama has not been as aggressive as we would have liked in addressing the housing crisis, but he has increased efforts in refinancing and loan modifications.

Mr. Romney’s economic plan, as much as we know about it, is regressive, relying on big tax cuts and deregulation. That kind of plan was not the answer after the financial crisis, and it will not create broad prosperity.

Foreign Affairs

Mr. Obama and his administration have been resolute in attacking Al Qaeda’s leadership, including the killing of Osama bin Laden. He has ended the war in Iraq. Mr. Romney, however, has said he would have insisted on leaving thousands of American soldiers there. He has surrounded himself with Bush administration neocons who helped to engineer the Iraq war, and adopted their militaristic talk in a way that makes a Romney administration’s foreign policies a frightening prospect.

Mr. Obama negotiated a much tougher regime of multilateral economic sanctions on Iran. Mr. Romney likes to say the president was ineffective on Iran, but at the final debate he agreed with Mr. Obama’s policies. Mr. Obama deserves credit for his handling of the Arab Spring. The killing goes on in Syria, but the administration is working to identify and support moderate insurgent forces there. At the last debate, Mr. Romney talked about funneling arms through Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which are funneling arms to jihadist groups.

Mr. Obama gathered international backing for airstrikes during the Libyan uprising, and kept American military forces in a background role. It was smart policy.

In the broadest terms, he introduced a measure of military restraint after the Bush years and helped repair America’s badly damaged reputation in many countries from the low levels to which it had sunk by 2008.

The Supreme Court

The future of the nation’s highest court hangs in the balance in this election — and along with it, reproductive freedom for American women and voting rights for all, to name just two issues. Whoever is president after the election will make at least one appointment to the court, and many more to federal appeals courts and district courts.

Mr. Obama, who appointed the impressive Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, understands how severely damaging conservative activism has been in areas like campaign spending. He would appoint justices and judges who understand that landmarks of equality like the Voting Rights Act must be defended against the steady attack from the right.

Mr. Romney’s campaign Web site says he will “nominate judges in the mold of Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito,” among the most conservative justices in the past 75 years. There is no doubt that he would appoint justices who would seek to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Civil Rights

The extraordinary fact of Mr. Obama’s 2008 election did not usher in a new post-racial era. In fact, the steady undercurrent of racism in national politics is truly disturbing. Mr. Obama, however, has reversed Bush administration policies that chipped away at minorities’ voting rights and has fought laws, like the ones in Arizona, that seek to turn undocumented immigrants into a class of criminals.

The military’s odious “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule was finally legislated out of existence, under the Obama administration’s leadership. There are still big hurdles to equality to be brought down, including the Defense of Marriage Act, the outrageous federal law that undermines the rights of gay men and lesbians, even in states that recognize those rights.

Though it took Mr. Obama some time to do it, he overcame his hesitation about same-sex marriage and declared his support. That support has helped spur marriage-equality movements around the country. His Justice Department has also stopped defending the Defense of Marriage Act against constitutional challenges.

Mr. Romney opposes same-sex marriage and supports the federal act, which not only denies federal benefits and recognition to same-sex couples but allows states to ignore marriages made in other states. His campaign declared that Mr. Romney would not object if states also banned adoption by same-sex couples and restricted their rights to hospital visitation and other privileges.

Mr. Romney has been careful to avoid the efforts of some Republicans to criminalize abortion even in the case of women who had been raped, including by family members. He says he is not opposed to contraception, but he has promised to deny federal money to Planned Parenthood, on which millions of women depend for family planning.

For these and many other reasons, we enthusiastically endorse President Barack Obama for a second term, and express the hope that his victory will be accompanied by a new Congress willing to work for policies that Americans need.

Coolest Obama Ad Has Wingnuts Going APE; But Reagan Would Approve ...

LAWRENCE EXPLAINS:

 

Cake Is Baked: Powell Endorses, Polling Super Geek Says Romney Stalls, Wingnuts Stroke Out

IT'S ONE OF CHUCKLES TODDY'S FAVORITE PHRASES: "The cake is baked." This goose is cooked; the fat lady's sung; etc. When Queen Ann, who hasn't baked a thing in 40 years, burned her Romney clan brownies on national TV, it must've been an omen from the planet Kolob. Colin Powell followed President Clinton in making the best case for the President's re-election, period. His credentials as a largely extinct Republican moderate, Chairman of the JCS under Bush I and Secretary of State under Bush II, carry weight with so-called independent-leaning Republicans.

The polls trumpeted by the MSM Media obsessed with the horse race to hike advertising revenues are not to be believed, except for one constant: President Obama maintains his lead in the battleground states. One such unbelievable polling tidbit heard on the "news" with no explanation had Romney erasing the President's lead among women (yeah, right ... 20 pts. off) but the President drawing even with men. The latter I'm inclined to believe: In the last two debates the President showed up as the Alpha male. Guys watching them like a boxing match saw macho man Obama landing blow after blow on a hapless Romney, who skittered about with that wimpy, unmanly magic underwear strut, then basically endorsed Obama. What was it Teddy Kennedy said before smashing the RomBot, mocking his flip-flops: "At this rate, he'll end up voting for me!" So if you're a guy watching the last contest and see Romney praising Obama for "killing the bad guys" what are you going to do: Vote for the prissy-stepping wimp with the used car salesman's motor mouth? I don't think so. You vote for the dude with the piercing, contemptuous of Romney, eagle eyes, who "killed" our enemies.

Piling on, the king of polling analysis, New York Times' Super Geek Nate Silver threw cold water on the Romney bluster faux "Mitt-momentum" with his own expert edict: No-mentum. Isn't it pathetic to see Romney running away from questions about that crazy teabagger from Indiana, Richard Mourdock, God's avenging angel proclaiming his deity commands rape victims to carry a rape fetus to term. Romney is running away from questions and sit-down interviews period, running the mother of all stealth campaigns, hiding behind the filth of his carpet-bombing SuperPacs. His rejoinder to the rape questions is the President is campaigning on "small things" which explains why his campaign has refused to take down Romney's ad endorsing Mourdock. Pathetic. The "White Horse" believes a higher power — Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson, et al — will propel him on the wings of Kolobian angels to the White House, no matter what happens on the ground. Mitt is another one who thinks he knows God's intention for him, a sociopathic religious fanatic given a free ride by media malpractice.

How long did the so-called "moderate Mitt" last? About two days, despite the fact clueless talking heads have yet to get the memo. Let's see: Romney's toothless attack dog, John Sununu the 'Lebanese Brain Fart', dismissed Powell's endorsement "because he's black." Add another notch to Sununu's 'respectful' campaign attacks, having called the President 'un-American', 'lazy' and 'stupid'. Wingnut Ann Coulter called the President 'a retard'. Village Idiot Sarah Palin piled on the racist base-sucking 'shuck & jive'; she's still clueless. These are but a few examples of the wingnut hive, frantically mobilized against President Obama. Typically for a hive, they are incapable of independent thought, so they receive their marching orders in bullet-point e-mails from wingnut internet and radio outlets, and are paid $20 bucks or more to call progressive radio programs posing as regular folks, to parrot the daily talking points.

Having knocked some three million voters off the rolls with their despicable 21st century Jim Crow voter suppression measures, their game plan is to mobilize the raw meat-eating racist basest of their base to go to the polls and vote for the tabula rasa tiptoe-thru-the-tulips wimp. Meanwhile, the President broadens his appeal to the last of the non-political, ignorant but persuadable voters. The only way Republicans win this election is by stealing it. In Ohio and Florida.

Memo To The DNC And The Chicago Team: Better be ready (and I mean, PREPARED!) to counter Republican dirty tricks and outright electoral theft come election day. So don't get complacent, Obama supporters: Get out there EN MASSE, AND VOTE!

Exactly Two Weeks To Go, Prez Releases His "Plan"

AS ASTUTE POLITICAL OBSERVERS KNOW, the President has been talking about his plans for the future — in a serious way — for the better part of a year. Unfortunately, he has to contend, on the one hand, with the daunting stupidity of a segment of the electorate (the so-called "low-information voter") which remains undecided but will decide the election, and on the other hand, the Idiot Punditocracy elites who insist on the "vision thing." The MSM/Beltway Media with a few notable exceptions have studiously avoided the main issue, which is Mitt Romney's mental health and character — as if being a serial, souless liar is an acceptable condition for someone running to be the world's most powerful leader.

So here is the President's closing argument. Unlike Romney's "five-point plan," which was mocked by the President, and reminds me of those old Soviet central planning five-year plans, President Obama distills his own "plan" for investments in education, manufacturing, energy, nation-building, coupled with ending the war in Afghanistan and nation-building at home into a simple, concise message intended to reassure the confederacy of idiots who will decide the election, and the pretenders who report on it:

:58 SECOND POST-DEBATE ZING-OS!

PRICELESS! PRESIDENT OBAMA BITCH-SLAPPED A SWEAT-SOAKED MITT ROMNEY, who CLINCHED repeatedly (great analogy, Rev!), dodging and weaving frantically, but still unable to avoid the President's devastating right hook, kept in abeyance for just the right moment — as Romney walked right into it with his weird notion about two trillion more in defense spending and the relative size of our Navy post-1917. Here's the President:

"I think Governor Romney maybe hasn’t spent enough time looking at how our military works. You — you mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets — (laughter) — because the nature of our military’s changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines.

And so the question is not a game of Battleship where we’re counting ships. It’s — it’s what are our capabilities."

BUT WAIT ... THERE'S MORE! Here's the PREZ:  "Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s."

ROMNEY: "AYEE! OUCH; OUCH; UNCLE! UNCLE!"

A Simple Word of Advice For The President Re: Tonight's Foreign Policy Debate

Fifteen of twenty-two Romney foreign policy advisors are George W. Bush retreads. President Obama should drive that point home by telling Americans, "if you liked George W. Bush's foreign policy, you're gonna LOVE Mitt Romney's." That's something Americans can understand on a visceral level.

George McGovern, Great Liberal And Prairie Populist, Has Died

At a time of great turmoil in our land, after successive assassinations had shaken us to our core, as the Vietnam war raged on with no end in sight, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota picked up the tattered liberal banner of Gene McCarthy and RFK and rallied the cause for the good fight. His primary victory over Establishment Democrats such as Ed Muskie and Hubert Humphrey was textbook grassroots political insurgency, when there was no internet or social media. To this day the Democratic Party’s unparalleled “ground game” remains a lasting legacy of McGovern’s quixotic and idealistic campaign.

Scenes From A Life Well-Lived In The Service of America And Mankind

McGovern was often criticized for driving the Democratic Party to the left and into “the wilderness” as smug denizens of the Beltway and Establishment Democrats would suggest, but it was largely sour grapes. In a “brief, shining moment,” when the Party was adrift and leaderless, McGovern returned it to its liberal roots and principles, asserting, even among the chaos of his democracy-in-action constituencies and issues-oriented campaign, the revitalization of New Deal liberalism with the social causes of the day: civil rights, gay rights, women’s reproductive rights, strong environmentalism, and a foreign policy which de-emphasized American interventionism and war.

What If McGovern’s Campaign Hadn’t Happened?

It hasn’t been smooth sailing, but it bears considering that all America’s wars post-Vietnam — not humanitarian interventions, such as the NATO action in Kosovo — were started by Republican administrations. Still, one Vietnam-era result of our increasingly technological warfare is the American public’s intolerance for high casualties such as the unimaginable 55,000 troops that died in Vietnam. And yet, the mainstreaming of once considered marginal social issues, which coalesced around McGovern’s campaign, have led to great progress. Would DADT have happened without McGovern? Or the almost complete public acceptance of marriage equality rights by the children of McGovern’s young crusaders and the generation which first took to the streets to fight for their rights? It’s impossible to say; as one of those vexing “what if” historical questions that will keep us up at night. But for me, I believe George McGovern came along at a moment in history to give voice to the voiceless and to those traumatized by the slaying of their champion, Bobby Kennedy. And he made a difference.

 An Opportunity Lost

Those who blame McGovern for hastening the rise of the right in America, the counter-revolution ushered in by the election of Ronald Reagan, are victims of  short-sighted hubris. Their premise is based on the iffy proposition that Richard Nixon could have been defeated by so-called “centrist” Establishment Democrats — Hubert Humphrey or Ed Muskie. (Ironically, by today’s standards Humphrey and Muskie would be considered flaming liberals.) But they never quite reconciled themselves to the fact that McGovern beat his Establishment opponents fair and square, and in the process exposed their flaws and weaknesses as candidates. Candidly, Humphrey was more than a decade past his prime, and Muskie self-destructed all on his own. When Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968 the country was already veering right, and no candidate the Democrats could throw at him in 1972 stood a good chance of beating him. Moreover, Nixon’s demise amid the scandal and coverup of Watergate handed the Democrats, behind Jimmy Carter, a golden opportunity to reverse the rise of the right, nip it in the bud with the wave Democratic Congressional elections, before the right had jumped onto the Reagan bandwagon.

McGovern’s Magnificent Defeat

Even in his magnificent defeat to Nixon, losing every state except Massachusetts, George McGovern laid the groundwork for a reformist Democratic Party, impelled by the over-reach and excesses of Watergate, to reboot and reset its true North course. Jimmy Carter was himself a beneficiary of the primary electoral reforms which did away, at least in that earlier incarnation, with the influence of party bosses and the infamous “smoke-filled rooms.” George McGovern was blameless. In fact, his standing as a man of honesty and principle grew with the American people as the polls have shown.

Some would argue that the Watergate revelations, which eventually led to Nixon’s downfall, were the high-water mark of American journalism. Surveying the decrepit state of the media landscape today, it is hard to make the counter-argument, although there are hopeful offshoots of nontraditional media springing up from the internet, the blogosphere, and social media. In one of those strange twists of fate, George McGovern figures as a major protagonist in a scene from Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail by the one and only “Gonzo” journalist, creator of the much-copied but never mastered genre, and McGovern admirer, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. His book, derived from a series of articles for Rolling Stone magazine, is the single finest account of the 1972 campaign. It was named by New York University’s School of Journalism as one of the “Top 100 Works of Journalism In the United States in the 20th Century.”

The Original Urinal Scene

It may surprise those who are familiar with that noxious example of pulp political gossip journalism known as Game Change, that its notorious urinal scene was, memorably, first written by Hunter Thompson. The contemporary Memorex copy, recounted on more than one occasion by Rachel Maddow, places the Republican presidential candidates in a line at the urinals taking a piss during a pre-debate bathroom break, laughing and mocking Mitt Romney, as Romney stood unseen behind them. Or so the story goes. It so delighted the producers of the loosely-based HBO film version that the Steve Schmidt character is pictured taking a piss while answering reporters’ questions over his shoulder. What could be more real-scatalogique and at the same time acceptable in Beltway society? Here is the genuine and original bathroom urinal scene, written in the first person by Dr. Thompson:

“I found George (McGovern) downstairs in the men's room, hovering into a urinal and staring straight ahead at the gray marble tiles. “Say... ah ... I hate to mention this,” I said. “But what about this thing with Hughes?" He flinched and quickly zipped his pants up, shaking his head and mumbling something about "a deal for the Vice Presidency.”

McGovern was shaken by the news that his erstwhile ally, Iowa Senator Harold Hughes had endorsed Ed Muskie, and Thompson conveyed that moment more vividly than anyone else, in a chance encounter with the candidate, when he was most exposed in the men’s room of a hotel in Exeter, New Hampshire.

Hunter Thompson And George McGovern

I do not believe in fantastical synchronicities spanning thirty years of political reporting, more than a generation removed, when memory or knowledge of Hunter’s work may have faded. I do not believe the Game Change scene happened as described. At best it is a composite by “authors” who were not there; at worst, the imaginings of a Thompson wannabe, who appropriated not only his “National Affairs” editor title at Rolling Stone, but also riffed on Hunter’s signature line “fear and loathing” for an article and book chapter title, and used the Beltway’s unimaginative cliché “Agonistes” as in “Obama Agonistes” ripped off from the title of the great historian Garry Will’s, Nixon Agonistes.

A line of acknowledgment to Thompson in the book would have sufficed. Yet Hunter himself captured the essence of this new breed of faux “journalist” peddling their garbage in the stultifying and incestuous Beltway milieu, which is not a geographic location as much as a state of being:

“In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.”

In chronicling George McGovern’s doomed but splendid campaign, Thompson offered a prophetic distillation of the perilous crossroads at which we had arrived as a nation at that moment in history. It is as terrifyingly true today as it was then, for it could set our course — a staggering, unending nightmare for this country — for the next thirty years:

“If the current polls are reliable... Nixon will be re-elected by a huge majority of Americans who feel he is not only more honest and more trustworthy than George McGovern, but also more likely to end the war in Vietnam. The polls also indicate that Nixon will get a comfortable majority of the Youth Vote. And that he might carry all fifty states... This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it — that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable. The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes... understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon. McGovern made some stupid mistakes, but in context they seem almost frivolous compared to the things Richard Nixon does every day of his life, on purpose... Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President?”

A Record of Heroism In War

Even though urged by his aides, George McGovern never talked up his military service in WW II. Unlike today’s panoply of  odious Republican chicken hawks, from George W. Bush who “served” stateside in the “champagne National Guard” to Dick Cheney who took multiple deferments while sending thousands of our young men and women to be killed and maimed in their wars of choice, to the repulsive Romney clan of  rich privileged men who avoided service in the military like the plague — Mitt Romney was living in a castle in France while John Kerry and John McCain served in Vietnam — George McGovern was a Liberator bomber pilot who, at age 23, flew some 35 missions over Nazi Germany. He once described flying the Liberator as driving a Mack truck without brakes or power steering. When his plane was hit by flak he skillfully crash landed it on a dime, for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, and was rescued by Yugoslav partisans. And yet we are perpetually bombarded by propaganda from slack-jawed punks like Karl Rove that Democrats are “soft” on defense. I would argue that it is precisely because Democrats know, and have historically known war and its consequences, that they do not engage in the militaristic jingoism and warmongering rhetoric of MIA Republicans like Mitt Romney, who has no earthly idea what George McGovern knew from experience and is, therefore, so terribly dangerous to our country.

A Return To Original Principles And Values

In his final book, “What It Means to Be a Democrat,” released last November, George McGovern wrote:

“We are the party that believes we can’t let the strong kick aside the weak. Our party believes that poor children should be as well educated as those from wealthy families. We believe that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes and that everyone should have access to health care.” Given our current economic burdens, he said, there has “never been a more critical time in our nation’s history” to rely on those principles. “We are at a crossroads over how the federal government in Washington and state legislatures and city councils across the land allocate their financial resources. Which fork we take will say a lot about Americans and our values.”

George McGovern’s 1972 campaign produced the most beautiful political buttons of any modern presidential campaign including, notably, the first environmental pins and one very valuable pin that is said to have been designed by famous graphic artist Peter Max. (See illustrations, below.)

 But most poignantly, perhaps, it conceived one of the best presidential campaign slogans in history: Come Home, America. For millions of us who love this country and agonize over what it is becoming, this is as fitting today as it was then. Come home, America, to those principles to which George McGovern dedicated his life with honor, grace, and love. Come home, America.

Rest in peace, George.

BILL MAHER DIGS UP ANOTHER MITT VIDEO

DOUBLE-DOWN LIAR: MITT BREAKS OWN RECORD IN 2ND DEBATE!

DOUBLY AMAZING! THINK PROGRESS POSTED THIS LIST OF ROMNEY'S SERIAL LIES, BREAKING HIS OWN PRIOR DEBATE RECORD: NO DOUBT AN ALL-TIME PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE RECORD: 31 LIES IN 41 MINUTES!! (CLICK LINK for the TRUTH.) And THIS TIME the President DID NOT allow this unethical, racist LIAR to get away with his SERIAL LIES:

1) “I want to make sure we keep our Pell grant program growing. We’re also going to have our loan program, so that people are able to afford school.”

2) “I put out a five-point plan that gets America 12 million new jobs in four years and rising take-home pay.”

3) “And the president’s right in terms of the additional oil production, but none of it came on federal land. As a matter of fact, oil production is down 14 percent this year on federal land, and gas production was down 9 percent.”

4) “Because the president cut in half the number of licenses and permits for drilling on federal lands, and in federal waters.”

5) “I believe very much in our renewable capabilities; ethanol, wind, solar will be an important part of our energy mix.”

6) “And coal, coal production is not up; coal jobs are not up.”

7) “And if we do that, if we do what I’m planning on doing, which is getting us energy independent, North America energy independence within eight years.”

8) “I will fight to create more energy in this country, to get America energy secure. And part of that is bringing in a pipeline of oil from Canada.”

9) “The proof of whether a [energy] strategy is working or not is what the price is that you’re paying at the pump. If you’re paying less than you paid a year or two ago, why, then, the strategy is working. But you’re paying more.”

10) “And I will not — I will not under any circumstances, reduce the share that’s being paid by the highest income taxpayers. And I will not, under any circumstances increase taxes on the middle-class.”

11) “But your rate comes down and the burden also comes down on you for one more reason, and that is every middle-income taxpayer no longer will pay any tax on interest, dividends or capital gains. No tax on your savings. That makes life a lot easier.”

12) “A recent study has shown the people in the middle-class will see $4,000.00 per year in higher taxes as a result of the spending and borrowing of this administration.”

13) “Fifty-four percent of America’s workers work in businesses that are taxed as individuals. So when you bring those rates down, those small businesses are able to keep more money and hire more people.”

14) “I went to a number of women’s groups and said, ‘Can you help us find folks,’ and they brought us whole binders full of women. I was proud of the fact that after I staffed my Cabinet and my senior staff, that the University of New York in Albany did a survey of all 50 states, and concluded that mine had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America.”

15) “I’m going to help women in America get good work by getting a stronger economy and by supporting women in the workforce.”

16) “I’d just note that I don’t believe that bureaucrats in Washington should tell someone whether they can use contraceptives or not. And I don’t believe employers should tell someone whether they could have contraceptive care of not. Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives.”

17) “So when you say that I wanted to take the auto industry bankrupt, you actually did. And — and I think it’s important to know that that was a process that was necessary to get those companies back on their feet, so they could start hiring more people. That was precisely what I recommend and ultimately what happened.”

18) “He said that by now middle-income families would have a reduction in their health insurance premiums by $2,500 a year. It’s gone up by $2,500 a year.”

19) “He keeps saying, ‘Look, I’ve created 5 million jobs.’ That’s after losing 5 million jobs. The entire record is such that the unemployment has not been reduced in this country.”

20) “The kids of those that came here illegally, those kids, I think, should have a pathway to become a permanent resident of the United States and military service, for instance, is one way they would have that kind of pathway to become a permanent resident.”

21) “Now, when the president ran for office, he said that he’d put in place, in his first year, a piece of legislation — he’d file a bill in his first year that would reform our — our immigration system… He didn’t do it. He had a Democrat House and Democrat Senate, supermajority in both houses.”

22) “Any investments I have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust. And I understand they do include investments outside the United States, including in — in Chinese companies.”

23) “It was a terrorist attack and it took a long time for that to be told to the American people.”

24) “Consider the distance between ourselves and — and Israel, the president said that — that he was going to put daylight between us and Israel.”

25) “The president’s policies throughout the Middle East began with an apology tour and — and — and pursue a strategy of leading from behind, and this strategy is unraveling before our very eyes.”

26) “We, of course, don’t want to have automatic weapons, and that’s already illegal in this country to have automatic weapons.”

27) “The — the greatest failure we’ve had with regards to — to gun violence in some respects is what — what is known as Fast and Furious. Which was a program under this administration, and how it worked exactly I think we don’t know precisely, where thousands of automatic, and AK-47 type weapons were — were given to people that ultimately gave them to — to drug lords.”

28) “What I will do as president is make sure it’s more attractive to come to America again.”

29) “Canada’s tax rate on companies is now 15 percent. Ours is 35 percent. So if you’re starting a business, where would you rather start it? We have to be competitive if we’re going to create more jobs here.”

30) “And there’s no question but that Obamacare has been an extraordinary deterrent to enterprises of all kinds hiring people.”

31) “He said he would have by now put forward a plan to reform Medicare and Social Security, because he pointed out they’re on the road to bankruptcy.”

QUOTABLE: OTHER PSYCHO ROMBOT SON THREATENS PRESIDENT

SAID TAGG ROMNEY (THE OTHER ROMBOT PSYCHO-SON) IN A RADIO INTERVIEW: HIS "FANTASY" WAS TO "Jump out of your seat and you want to rush down to the debate stage and take a swing at him."

Nice. Yo Tagg, why don't you channel your PSYCHOTIC violent impulses toward something useful, like serving your country ... I understand the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines are recruiting. Oh I forgot: Your 'patriotic' family NEVER served in the military. Too busy in the multiple wives commune down Mexico way.

AMERICAN PSYCHOS: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON ...

SCENES FROM THE HOFSTRA ROMNEY DEBACLE, AS PRESIDENT OBAMA was skewering the Romney patriarch. Josh Romney sure doesn't look like a happy camper. (Oh Candy! Josh would like a word with you ... in private. Kidding, kidding.) But seriously folks, as I've been saying all along, these folks are SCARY STRANGE ...

CNN Focus Group Better Than IDIOTS MSNBC Drug Out of a Cave

OOPS ...

Re: The Passage Below ...

CHRIS HOSTED JAMES LIPTON from the Actors Studio to analyze the debate, today, at which time the passage below was played in full. The high drama in the exchange was when President Obama glared at Romney and said his politicization of the Benghazi murders of our diplomats was "offensive." It shouldn't have been edited out, whatever the reason. 'Nuff said.

As James Lipton said, Romney's rudeness and condescension toward the President saying, "you'll get your chance in a moment," was a sad commentary especially considering the outcry had the roles been reversed. Such disrespect for the President and the presidency from Republicans deserves no quarter. None. They're notorious for playing the refs (Media) and for whining incessantly. Typical bullies.

Why Did MSNBC Censor The Word "Offensive"?!

IN THE POST-DEBATE ANALYSIS WITH CORPORATE TOOL Chris Matthews the word "OFFENSIVE" was lopped off by MSNBC censors during President Obama's strongest moment. Here is the COMPLETE exchange: (Emphasis mine.)

"The suggestion that anybody on my team, whether it's a secretary of state, our UN ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. That's not what we do. That's not what I do as president, not what I do as commander in chief."

The President glared at a wilting Romney before turning on his heel and walking back to his seat. Here is MSNBC's broadcast version:

"The suggestion that anybody on my team, whether it's a secretary of state, our UN ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. ... That's not what we do. That's not what I do as president, not what I do as commander in chief."

This kind of CENSORIOUS editing is SHAMEFUL and OFFENSIVE to the viewers. What do you take us for?! Who are you protecting and why?! Chris, I challenge you to play the FULL exchange on your show. Show us you're no corporate tool.

USELESS MSNBC IDIOTS

ERIN McPIKE AND CHUCKLES TODDY. BOTH said the President didn't give voters a vision for his next four years. Both ARE WRONG. The President's next four years is to consolidate and follow through with the achievements and initiatives of his first term. Steady as she goes. Whaddya want, a laundry list?! He can do that; but it'll put everyone to sleep. Jonathan Alter, the historian, was STELLAR in his appraisal of the President's closing statement in which he got a big fat softball over the plate, named the 47%, and knocked it out of the park with devastating effect, for there was no rebuttal.

FOCUS GROUP OF EFFIN' IDIOTS!!!!

JEEZUS H. CHRIST, THE STUPIDITY OF THE AMERICAN VOTER IS BEYOND RATIONAL UNDERSTANDING! VOTERS IN OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AREN'T NEARLY AS STUPID AS THE MSNBC FOCUS GROUP OF 'UNDECIDED VOTERS' WHO, BY DEFINITION, ARE FUCKING IDIOTS! THE ONLY EXPLANATION I CAN THINK OF IS A MASSIVE FAIL OF OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM!

Quotable: Rachel Maddow (Our Sweetheart)

"I felt like I was watching CAPOEIRA ... The way those two guys were circling each other." Nice cultural reference, Rachel. It might have gone over most of your colleagues' heads, but not here, as you might imagine! And you know, it's the PERFECT metaphor for the President's ultimate victory, for he'd look great as a capoeirista with all the moves — Mitt Romney ... UGH, not at all.

Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for leg sweeps.

:04 SECOND POST-DEBATE ANALYSIS: GRAND SLAM-O HOME RUN!!!

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S OLE-FASHIONED ASS WHUPPIN' OF MITT ROMNEY WAS BRUTAL — B.R.U.T.A.L! YES!!

Recipe For Taking Romney Down Tonite

DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA. Your languid, watered-down, bland, flakey, mincemeat prescription for taking on the Chameleon Romney Changeling in the first debate just didn't do the trick. No chef worth his sea salt has ever crushed the competition by being "polite" to the adversary or to incompetent judges/moderators. So here's your suggested metaphysical recipe for this evening's Mittbake:

• A DASH OF JFK (To look "presidential")

• A PINCH OF TRUMAN (For flavoring only; Joe Biden took the lion's share)

• A GENEROUS SPRINKLE of ABE LINCOLN (For the personal, personable and wise)

• TWO PARTS RFK (For that soft-spoken passion, vehemence, advocacy for the 47%)

• TOP IT ALL OFF WITH BILL CLINTON 'TO TASTE' (For that down-home 'explainer' thing)

Wash it all down with your special White House home brew, and you'll be ready to roll, Mr. President!

TIME TO PUT THE NAILS IN THE MITT-MONSTER COFFIN.

Justice For Amanda Todd: ANONYMOUS 'Outs' Her Alleged Tormentor

THIS IS AWESOME. ANONYMOUS HAS SENT a message to every internet predator, bully, child pornographer, et al, who think they can safely hide behind firewalls from Hell: "We are ANONYMOUS. We are legion. We do not forget. We do not forgive."

ANONYMOUS claims the 32-year old man it has outed as Amanda Todd's primary tormentor, driving her to suicide, has also made postings to child porn sites. While we should certainly discourage vigilanteism and allow for justice to take its snail's-pace course, these guys have done good. Read all the details here. As Jezebel notes:

In light of Gawker’s exposure of notorious troll Violentacrez, and Katie’s article about CreepShot-posting creeps being called out, it feels like there’s steady momentum in the direction of increased intolerance of this specific brand of internet bullshit. Maybe taking away the anonymity of these people won’t completely solve the problem, but perhaps it’ll slow things down, allowing would-be harassers to think twice. It likely won’t stop the real psychopaths, those hell-bent on being creeps, but it’ll probably encourage people who aren’t 100 percent devoted to being gross to put the brakes on. Plus, there is so much power in peers telling peers: “Hey, what you’re doing isn’t cool, so knock it the fuck off.” I’m guessing that’s our most effective weapon in bully culture, the ability of everyone on the sidelines to say, “Shut it down, weirdo!” Threatening to expose their asses is the internet equivalent of a badge of shame, but perhaps worse; trite as it is, you can’t take the internet off at the end of the day. Your name will always be out there, forever branded. Don’t believe me? Just Google “Michael Brutsch.”

Attn: AIRHEAD FEMALES PLANNING TO VOTE ROMNEY-RYAN'S PECS — THIS IS FOR YOU

10-15-12 New York Times Editorial. (Emphasis mine.)

If Roe v. Wade Goes

It is no secret that Mitt Romney and his running-mate, Representative Paul Ryan, are opponents of abortion rights. When Mr. Ryan was asked at last week’s debate whether voters who support abortion rights should be worried if the Romney-Ryan ticket were elected, he essentially said yes.

They would depart slightly from the extremist Republican Party platform by allowing narrow exceptions for rape, incest or the life of the woman. Beyond that, they would move to take away a fundamental right that American women have had for nearly 40 years.

Mr. Romney has called for overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that recognized a woman’s constitutional right to make her own childbearing decisions and to legalized abortion nationwide. He has said that the issue should be thrown back to state legislatures. The actual impact of that radical rights rollback is worth considering.

It would not take much to overturn the Roe decision. With four of the nine members of the Supreme Court over 70 years old, the next occupant of the White House could have the opportunity to appoint one or more new justices. If say, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oldest member, retired and Mr. Romney named a replacement hostile to abortion rights, the basic right to abortion might well not survive.

The result would turn back the clock to the days before Roe v. Wade when abortion was legal only in some states, but not in others. There is every indication that about half the states would make abortion illegal within a year of Roe being struck down, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which challenges abortion restrictions around the country, puts the number at 30 states. For one thing, abortion bans already on the books in some states would suddenly kick in. And some Republican-controlled state legislatures would outlaw abortion immediately.

Even with Roe and subsequent decisions upholding abortion rights, more than half the states have enacted barriers like mandatory waiting periods, “counseling” sessions lacking a real medical justification; parental consent or notification laws; and onerous clinic “safety” rules intended to drive clinics out of business.

Mr. Romney is a vocal supporter of this continuing drive in the states and in Congress to limit the constitutional right, even without overturning Roe. To a large degree, the anti-abortion forces have succeeded. In 1982, there were about 2,900 providers nationwide; as of 2008, there were less than 1,800. In 97 percent of the counties that are outside of metropolitan areas, there are no abortion providers at all.

We do not need to guess about the brutal consequences of overturning Roe. We know from our own country’s pre-Roe history and from the experience around the world. Women desperate to end a pregnancy would find a way to do so. Well-to-do women living in places where abortion is illegal would travel to other states where it is legal to obtain the procedure. Women lacking the resources would either be forced by the government and politicians to go through with an unwanted or risky pregnancy, attempt to self-abort or turn to an illegal — and potentially unsafe — provider for help. Women’s health, privacy and equality would suffer. Some women would die.

Mr. Romney knows this, or at least he used to. Running for the United States Senate in Massachusetts in 1994 against Edward Kennedy, Mr. Romney spoke of a young woman, a close relative, who died years before as result of complications from an illegal abortion to underscore his now-extinct support for Roe v. Wade. In a report in Salon last year, Justin Elliott, a reporter for ProPublica, found that when the young woman passed away, her parents requested that donations be made in her honor to Planned Parenthood. That’s the same invaluable family-planning group that Mr. Romney has pledged to defund once in the White House.

BREAKING! DEVELOPING!! ROMNEY FINALLY RELEASES TAX PLAN DETAILS!!!

IN ADVANCE OF TONIGHT'S DEBATE, THE ROMNEY CAMPAIGN has issued a detailed explanation of how the Romney-Ryan tax plan is able to cut taxes by $5 trillion without raising taxes on the middle class or exploding the deficit. For ALL the details, click on this link, or access romneytaxplan.com.

SNL Does The Veep Debate ... Hilarious!

CYBERBULLYING: Such Cruelty Is Hard To Understand

I GUESS IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THERE, IN TEENS, WHOSE BRAINS AREN'T FULLY DEVELOPED YET, but the internet has magnified everything. Maybe 'SOCIAL MEDIA' is a misnomer. The story of this beautiful young Canadian woman, Amanda Todd, who had so much to live for but was literally cyberbullied to death, is heartbreaking:

Times Exposes 'Moderate Mitt' Myth

OR, AS THE BIG DOG SAID TH'OTHER DAY, "WHERE YOU BEEN ALL THESE YEARS, BOY"?! The 'BOY' was Bill's payback for Romney's disgusting racism, calling our African American President of the United States a "BOY." Good on President Clinton for throwing it back in the scumbag's face, unlike Chris Matthews and his BELTWAY ilk who even refuse to call Romney for the LIAR that he is, because of some elitist "politesse." (I'd like to know, Chris, who got to you?!)

Here's the Gray Lady's editorial, still wise and fiery: (Emphasis mine. And he's not just 'Convenient Mitt' — he's Sociopathic Mitt.)

The ‘Moderate Mitt’ Myth

The way a presidential candidate campaigns for office matters to the country. A campaign should demonstrate seriousness of purpose and a set of core beliefs, and it should signal to voters whether a candidate shows trustworthiness and judgment. Those things don’t seem to matter to Mitt Romney.

From the beginning of his run for the Republican nomination, Mr. Romney has offered to transfigure himself into any shape desired by an audience in order to achieve power. In front of massed crowds or on television, he can sound sunny and inclusive, radiating a feel-good centrism. His “severely conservative” policies and disdain for much of the country are reserved for partisans, donors and the harsh ideologues who clutter his party’s base. This polarity is often described as “flip-flopping,” but the word is too mild to describe opposing positions that are simultaneously held.

The best way to judge candidates is not by the popular way they describe their plans near the end of a campaign; it is by the most divisive presentations of themselves earlier on. A candidate’s political calculations when fewer people are watching is likely to say far more about character than poll-tested pleasantries in the spotlight.

That’s what is disingenuous about the “Moderate Mitt” in recent speeches and the first presidential debate. He hasn’t abandoned or flip-flopped from the severe positions that won him the Republican nomination; they remain at the core of his campaign, on his Web site and in his position papers, and they occasionally slip out in unguarded moments. All he’s doing is slapping whitewash on his platform. The immoderation of his policies, used to win favor with a hard-right party, cannot be disguised.

This week, for example, in the swing state of Iowa, Mr. Romney tried to cover up his strident anti-abortion agenda. “There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda,” he told The Des Moines Register’s editorial board. But that carefully worded statement was designed to mislead, because the threat to women’s rights doesn’t necessarily come from legislation. He would cut financing for Planned Parenthood, and he has said he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and would appoint justices who would do so.

And, though he has conveniently forgotten, he does support anti-abortion legislation — what he called in a 2011 essay the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to ban abortion when a fetus can feel pain. In 2007, he said he’d sign a bill prohibiting all abortions. He has also tried to paper over his positions on his $5 trillion tax cut, pretending it would be cost-free, and he now says he wants to cover pre-existing health conditions, though his plan does so only for those who have insurance coverage.

At last week’s debate, Mr. Romney presented himself as a bipartisan leader able to work with Democrats. But that’s not how Massachusetts Democrats remember his tenure as governor, as Michael Wines of The Times reported last week. He ignored or insulted Democrats and failed to achieve most of his big-ticket proposals, like reform of the Civil Service and pension systems. His decision to support a universal health care system in 2006, long advocated by Democrats, was seen at the time as a purely political calculation, at least until Republicans rejected the idea in 2009 when President Obama proposed it.

There isn’t really a Moderate Mitt; what is on display now is better described as Convenient Mitt. Anyone willing to advocate extremism to raise money and win primaries is likely to do the same to stay in office.

:58 SECOND POST-DEBATE IMPRESSIONS

THIS WAS JOE BIDEN'S FINEST HOUR-AND-A-HALF. Sitting here, putting myself in the shoes of the average voter; when Joe Biden said he was in that room with Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill negotiating the future of Social Security ... That alone was RIVETING, and worth more than 20,000 Hail Ronnies, our lord and savior. Biden communicated complex issues with clarity, passion, advocacy for the middle class, experience — which flattered President Obama in Joe Biden's reflected, dare I say it, gravitas. HE WAS A BRILLIANT COMMUNICATOR!

Third Stupidest Thing Matthews Said ... Floating Ryan Too Much Credit

IT WAS ALL BIDEN ALL THE TIME! WHAT RACHEL SAID. JOE'S COMMAND of foreign policy was superb; it wasn't about the critique of the sitting government, they'll take their hits, but it was Biden's credible and serious command of the complex ISSUES, saying in effect, we're in charge here, as Big Eddie said, "a man against a boy." On domestic policy, Uncle Joe KILLED Romney-Ryan. The way he looked into the camera, and said to seniors, "use your common sense, folks; who do you trust on Medicare?" AT LAST, a Democrat TAKING OWNERSHIP OF THE PROGRAM!

TOTAL METAPHYSICAL WIPEOUT FOR GENERAL JOE!

Second Stupidest Thing Chris Matthews Said Tonight

"THE (9/11) TRUTHERS ARE FAR LEFT." CHRIS MATTHEWS LIVES IN A MAKE-BELIEVE BELTWAY corporate world of FALSE ASYMMETRY or FALSE EQUIVALENCE, that could actually be called the TRUE corporate "conspiracy" of misinformation, that Chris is constantly pushing. This claim, for example. Or Chris's refusal to say Romney is a LIAR. Or his refusal to address Mitt Romney's mental health, much less the campaign's racist broadsides against President Obama.

It is a chosen ignorant, homogenized and self-serving attitude that comforts and reinforces his inner-Beltway elitist world. That's one thing. The other, is to CAST ASPERSIONS ON THE LEFT for personal, spiteful reasons, every chance he gets, probably because in Chris's conservative worldview, the Left stands in the way of the ascension of the great centrist Clinton (benign corporate) wing of the Democratic Party.

For the millionth time, Chris: THERE IS NO "FAR LEFT"! There's us, regular folks, liberal and progressive in our politics. Then there is center-right (YOU), far right (FOX, Limbaugh, Teabaggers, et al), and there is right wing PARANOID nativist, which includes CRAZIES like Alex Jones, hate groups, extremist anti-government militias and domestic terrorists, the anti-FEMA paranoiacs peddling so-called "government concentration camps," and so on. THESE, Mr. Matthews, are the farthest of the FAR RIGHT, i.e., government-hating, Obama-hating FASCISTS. These, Mr. Matthews, are the so-called "9/11 TRUTHERS." To call them a nonexistent "FAR LEFT" is to deliberately and with malice aforethought throw mud in the face of progressives. See, Chris, it's an oxymoron. Whatever diffuse "far left" there is, e.g., the Occupy movement, are (a) not connected with the Democratic Party — BY CHOICE; they're a 'third way' movement — and (b) much too smart to buy into the "Truther" nonsense.

So, your entire premise is IGNORANT CRAP. And Joy-Ann, please, don't feed the beast by falsely linking Truthers to the Democratic Party, and then cogently explaining why they're not Democrats. I know you must indulge Chris, like the "one and only" MSNBC crank, but try to keep it real. Nice takedown of Michael Steele, by the way. You keep send him scurrying back into his GOP hole. See Chris, this is what happens when you get your brains scrambled by watching too much Bill O'Reilly.

Stupidest Thing Chris Matthews Said Today ... And It's Still Early!

"ROMNEY'S PRAGMATISM." HUH?! Chris, you've got your head so far up your ass, even Lady Alex slamming "old white guys on Twitter" — like YOU — didn't register. You're so totally contaminated by the Beltway, it's probably terminal. (Gee, I thought it was Rachel hosting the debate coverage, and you, well, like SNL depicted ... the remote [to avoid fisticuffs with Big Eddie] crazed entertainment.)

Memo To MSNBC: When Will (Or Why Won't) You Address Mitt Romney's Mental Health?

RACHEL? BIG EDDIE? CHRIS? LAWRENCE? ANYONE?! Just this morning there was a call to the Stephanie Miller program by a psychologist (I believed her, she sounded reasonable and informed) who said Mitt Romney exhibits signs of a "psychopathic personality" — namely, telling serial lies without any sense of guilt unless caught, and then he becomes indignant, someone who has no empathy, who can be charming and functional (remember Ted Bundy?), but who has no conscience and will say anything, use anyone to achieve his objective, the presidency.

Case in point: Days ago, his repulsive use of a Navy Seal's death defending the Libyan consulate, despite the fallen soldier's mother who told him to STOP using her son's death for political advantage, and a friend who said the soldier felt "pity" for Romney sucking up to him. The psychologist sounded the alarm, and she also said that about 1 percent of the population suffers from this kind of mental illness, which is why it's so difficult for the SANE 99 percent to understand the signs of illness. That goes for you, too.

But don't you think you owe it to US, the voters, to consult mental health professionals, regarding a range of what constitutes NORMAL behavior, even for a politician who is expected to lie or spin occasionally, but NOT to the level of "cynical dishonesty" (as Stephanie Cutter said) of Romney? Haven't we learned ANYTHING from history?!

Ryan: "I Expect Joe To Come At Me Like A Cannonball." Here's What Happens Next ...

SCENES FROM A "DEBATE" AS GENERAL JOE BITCH-SLAPS PRIVATE RYAN: (PS. — THE BOSS SENDS JOE A MILD REPRIMAND FOR THREATENING TO PULL A GUN ON RYAN, AND ORDERS HIM TO "APOLOGIZE" ... WITH A WINK AND A THUMBS-UP!)

MSNBC's DESPICABLE JOURNALISTIC MALPRACTICE

IT'S INCREDIBLY BAD ENOUGH THEY'VE BEEN VIRTUALLY MUZZLED FROM ADDRESSING the abundant evidence of MITT ROMNEY'S PROBABLE SOCIOPATHIC PERSONALITY; or dangerous Messianic strain in his cultish, secretive religion; BUT, their total disregard for Mitt Romney's JAW-DROPPING racism during the debate is nothing short of journalistic MALPRACTICE. I refer to my post entitled "Mitt Romney's Offensive And Condescending Zinger" and this Romney statement:

"I will not reduce the share paid by high-income individuals. I know that you and your running mate keep saying that and I know it’s a popular thing to say with a lot of people, but it’s just not the case. Look, I’ve got five boys. I’m used to people saying something that’s not always true, but just keep on repeating it and ultimately hoping I’ll believe it. But that — that is not the case. All right? I will not reduce the taxes paid by high-income Americans."

And my partial, (truly) STUNNED reaction:

"[B]ut the inferred comparison of the President of the United States to his "five boys" when they lied was, to me, a jaw-dropping racist reference that was once again (deliberately?) overlooked by the Idiot Punditocracy.

When one accuses an African American man of lying like your "boys" there should be no doubt left as to the inherent, vile racism in the remark. (It was one more Romney dog whistle, of which he has a history, dating back to when MSNBC management forced Chris Matthews to apologize for his network after it correctly reported Romney's use of KKK language on the stump. It's SHAMEFUL and Mitt Romney ought to be called on it.)"

Naturally, this exchange was COMPLETELY ignored by the Idiot Punditocracy, as if it had never taken place. All I can do is try to point these idiots to the TRUTH, hoping they'll do THE RIGHT THING. Today, VINDICATION from a Media Internet heavyweight, Talking Points Memo:

Josh Romney: Dad ‘Learned How To Debate An Obstinate Child’

ERIC KLEEFELD 1:31 PM EDT, TUESDAY OCTOBER 9, 2012

Josh Romney, one of Mitt Romney's sons, told a pointed joke Tuesday about President Obama's debate performance, while warming up the crowd for his father at a campaign rally in Van Meter, Iowa.

"I don't know if you guys saw the debate last week," Josh Romney said, as the crowd cheered and applauded. "I take a lot of pride in that, because — I don't know if you noticed, but I was — me and my brothers were responsible for my dad doing so well. We were the ones, as kids, that kept saying the same thing over and over. And we'd say the same lie over and over. And my dad learned then, not to believe it. While we didn't go to any of the formal debate preparation, we did the real hard stuff.

"So as a father, he learned how to debate an obstinate child. We had a lot of fun, we had a lot of fun watching the debate."

Previously, Mitt Romney told a similar retort to Obama at the debate last week: "I've got five boys. I'm used to people saying the same thing over and over again hoping it becomes true."

Idiot Punditocracy Watch: What Romney's Debate "Win on Style" REALLY MEANS

PAY ATTENTION, IDIOT PUNDITOCRACY. THIS GOES FOR YOU TOO, CHUCKLES TODDY; rather than get weepy, slack-shaking jawed on Meet The Press about the disdain shown your precious government institutions ... as that contemporary political philosopher Herman Cain said: "BLAME YOH-SEHF!" Figure it out, traitorous destroyer of said institutions, porridge-for-brains ASSHOLE! Now here's Mitt Romney's debating technique the BELTWAY MEDIA breezily touts as "style":

"The Gish Gallop, named after creationist Duane Gish, is the debating technique of drowning the opponent in such a torrent of half-truths, lies, and straw-man arguments that the opponent cannot possibly answer every falsehood in real time. The term was coined by Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education.

The formal debating jargon term for this is spreading. It arose as a way to throw as much rubbish into five minutes as possible. In response, some debate judges now limit number of arguments as well as time. However, in places where debating judges aren't there to call bullshit on the practice, like the internet, such techniques are remarkably common." [This is for that traitorous BELTWAY luminary, first identified ON THIS BLOG long before the Obama-Romney debate as an anti-union, pro-Republican sympathizer, Jim Lehrer. Unlike Matthews (who doesn't know where he stands, anyway) I'm ALWAYS right about judging people's political tendencies.]

Any questions, IMBECILES? Now when is the BELTWAY cabal going to address the question of Mitt Romney's MENTAL HEALTH, before the election, in light of increasingly disturbing signs, from his pathological LYING (which is a form of MENTAL ILLNESS), to further evidence of dissociation from reality in his debate performance, to his FUCKING INSANE bellicose or should I say real-life DR. STRANGELOVE "foreign policy." This is the closest Rachel has come to showing some GONADS but it's NOT NEARLY ENOUGH. You've got to connect the last couple of dots, Rachel:

TEAM OBAMA'S BIG BIRD AD

GAWKER: Mitt Romney Debates Himself, LOSES

PRICELESS VIDEO FROM GAWKER/DAILY KOS: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE ROMBOT. First, he loses debate to self:

Next he shocks kids showing them his TRUE MAGICAL MOONSHINE side ... 

Then disses America's Kids, refusing to answer their questions in Nickelodeon's quadrennial "Pick The President" election special. In a statement, veteran Nick News host Linda Ellerbee said the network was disappointed that Romney "wouldn't take the time to answer the questions," adding that "answering kids' questions directly" shows "respect for kids."

Mitt Romney UNMASKED, or "UNPACKED" As Lady Alex Likes to Say ...

FOLKS, YOU JUST CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP. Click this LINK and the MULTIFACETED ROMBOT programming is revealed in all its flips and flops. It's at once uncanny and more than a little CREEPY.

Chris Matthews' Meltdown ... It Ain't Pretty!

CHRIS JUST CAN'T HELP IT, FOLKS ... He means well, so we must give him a pass:

BIG BIRD: President Obama's Most Effective Campaign Surrogate

WHAT'S THAT ODIOUS, DESPICABLE SNAKE-OIL SALESMAN MITT ROMNEY'S objection to BIG BIRD?! That cutting funding for PBS and the finest educational program in broadcast and WORLD HISTORY, Sesame Street, somehow can't survive one-one hundreth percent of the budget axe?! ... So he can retain funding RIGHT WING PORNOGRAPHY: BIG OIL SUBSIDIES AND WINDFALL TAX CUTS FOR HIMSELF AND HIS RICH PARTNERS IN CRIME. Or maybe the secretive cult worshipper with the magic underwear waddle was just pissed Sesame Street didn't teach his "boys" God lives on a planet named Kolob, and if they're really good, they'll each get a planet to rule all by their widdle selves.

LOOK FOR BIG BIRD TO MAKE A STAR APPEARANCE ON SNL. Not expecting much from debate skit as far as laughs go,
with that awful Obama player.

Who's To Blame For The Prez's Disastrous Debate Performance

I READ IN TODAY'S TIMES AN INTERESTING POST-MORTEM OF PRESIDENT OBAMA'S DEBATE DISASTER, when even he was unaware how REALLY badly it went. Let me be clear: This is just my opinion, and I've got nothing but a sense of the persons to opine. BUT ANITA DUNN?! WTF was SHE doing in the debate "prep" team? Let me tellya, this woman is such an out-of-touch, arrogant, elitist LIBERAL insider, that my first reaction seeing her name in the mix was, "no wonder." Had Stephanie Cutter, loved by the progressive base, been there, she'd be the first to tell the President (pre-debate) what regular folks want to hear from him (NOT Dunn, who has no earthly idea), and after the President took Dunn's advice instead, "you sucked BIG-TIME."

Here's the thing: The President's personal friend — the WORST kind of presidential adviser — and White House Svengali, Valerie Jarrett, hovering around him like a busybody giving protected "friend" BAD advice, should be locked up in the broom closet, with her BROOM to keep her company; fire Anita Dunn, AGAIN; and confiscate David-Dee and David-Dum's marijuana stash ... Then, maybe the campaign gets back on track. Oh, and let's hope Uncle Joe doesn't commit some untimely, endearing Biden GAFFE in the upcoming Veep debate.

Memo To Chris Matthews II: Take Your "Respect" Ad And Put It Where The Sun Don't Shine

LATELY CHRIS MATTHEWS (MSNBC, THEY'RE INTERCHANGEABLE) HAS BEEN RUNNING A GROTESQUELY IRONIC 'LEAN BACKWARD' AD PIOUSLY ENTREATING US to "respect" the candidates. My response: GO JUMP IN THE LAKE OF IDIOTS, CHRIS. This imbecilic commercial for MSNBC is somehow intended to gloss over the corporation's REFUSAL to seriously address:

(a) Mitt Romney's multiple RACIST (or if you prefer 'dog whistle') statements; (b) his pathological lying as an alarming mental health impediment to his psychological stability to make life and death, war and peace decisions; INCLUDING (c) his wife's expressed concern over Mitt's "mental health", which I'm convinced (we're not stupid, assholes) the Romney campaign warned the network not to go there; INCLUDING his (d) strange, cultish religion (thank you, Melissa, for reinforcing how very WEIRD these people are) although the Reverend Wright was fair game; and (e) the STUNNING DISRESPECT shown to the President of the United States by Romney's MOST SENIOR ADVISER, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, Cuban-born of Lebanese parents (speaking of exotic, un-American backgrounds) who had the AUDACITY to call the President of the United States "lazy" and "stupid" (the GROSSEST imaginable RACISM) and, ironically, "un-American." (Apparently, Rachel thinks that showing us a close-up slo-mo reaction of BELTWAY QUEEN Andrea Mitchell's facial tick somehow gets Andrea off the hook for coddling these SCUM.)

ONE MORE THING, CHRIS: Your STUPID, ignorant attempts to romanticize our horrible, painful history with Native Americans is offensive, disrespectful, and insensitive. Our mutual history with Native Americans can be summed up in one word: genocide. Rather than retrograde talk about "cowboys and indians" and "the cavalry", why don't you read up on "The Trail of Tears." FYI, Chris, it wasn't Cochise, but Sitting Bull who massacred Custer at Little Big Horn. Somehow, I have never felt the slightest sympathy for "Yellow Hair" but quietly cheered Sitting Bull. It was just a little bit of payback, but not nearly enough.