Memo To Chris Matthews: You Can't Change A Zebra's Stripes

CHRIS, YOU UNRECONSTRUCTED JERK: There is NO "hard Left"! Now go back to your B.S. with Michael Steele. Absolutely unwatchable BELTWAY reactionary.

More Romney Lies: "10 Most Baseless Claims"

NOT SURPRISINGLY, THINK PROGRESS MISSED A FEW. There's some overlap, but here are MORE LIES from the number 1 pathological LIAR in the history of modern presidential campaigns: Willard Mitt Romney. Check out the Huff Post slide show.

Quotable: Mental Disorders Behind Pathological LYING

"Pathological liars seem utterly sincere about their lies, but if confronted with facts to the contrary, will often just as sincerely reverse their story. Their stories have a believable consistency, but they just do not seem able to monitor whether they are telling the truth or not.'' ~ Dr. Brian King, psychiatrist at UCLA School of Medicine, and co-author of an article on pathological lying in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Sound familiar? Who can spot Mitt Romney's mental illness/emotional disorder in Dr. King's focus on neurological impairment and/or "five common personality disorders?" Probably the first, "manipulative lies are the hallmark of the sociopath" who "gravitate toward sales, where their bent toward lying may serve them well. ... [S]ociopaths feel no remorse or empathy for their victims," and are "capable of the most cold-hearted of lies." Interestingly, more than one pundit described Romney in the debate as a "salesman."

"Research suggests that this most extreme form of lying is associated with a specific neurological pattern: a minor memory deficit combined with impairment in the frontal lobes, which critically evaluate information, Dr. King said. In such cases, the person suffers from the inability to assess the accuracy of what he says, and so can tell lies as though they were true.

Not all pathological lying stems from such neurological difficulties. Psychiatrists are also grappling with lies that typify certain emotional disorders, and are told by people who know they are lying. Dr. King's article describes five varieties of lies, each of which comes more naturally to those who suffer from one or another of five common personality problems.

While such lies could be told by anyone, they are far more likely in those with the following personality problems, according to Dr. King, because each kind of lie springs from the pressing psychological needs at the core of the disorders:

• Manipulative lies are the hallmark of the sociopath, or ''antisocial personality,'' who is driven by utterly selfish motives. Such people are not necessarily criminals; they may gravitate toward the fringes of trades like sales, where their bent toward lying may serve them well. Since sociopaths feel no remorse or empathy for their victims, they are capable of the most cold-hearted of lies.

• Melodramatic lies which make them the center of attention are natural to the hysteric, or ''hystrionic personality.'' Such people are searching desparately for love. They are also more taken with emotional truths than the facts of a situation. ''Casual lies are to the hysteric what license is to the poet,'' according to Dr. King.

• Grandiose lies typify the narcissist, whose deep need to win the constant approval of others impels him to present himself in the most favorable light. They are prone to exaggerate their abilities or accomplisments in order to seem more impressive. Because narcissists feel entitled to special treatment - for instance, believing that ordinary rules do not apply to them - they can be reckless in their lies.

• Evasive lies are typical of the borderline personality, whose wildly vacillating moods and impulsive actions constantly get him into trouble. Many of the borderline person's lies are told to avoid blame or shift responsibility for his problems to others.

• Guilty secrets account for many lies of the compulsive person, a type who generally is scrupulously honest. Compulsives pride themselves on following the rule and attention to facts and details. But they also suffer from a fear of being shamed, and so lie to prevent other people from finding out about things they feel would meet with disapproval. Their lies are often mild, about things most others would find no cause for lying; one man, for instance, lied to his wife to keep her from finding out about his being in therapy. Studying the Normal Lie"

MITT ROMNEY REGURGITATED 27 LIES IN 38 MINUTES

AMAZING. THINK PROGRESS POSTED THIS LIST OF ROMNEY'S SERIAL LIES, PROFFERED IN RECORD TIME. NO DOUBT A DEBATE RECORD: (CLICK LINK for the TRUTH.) And to think the President allowed this unethical, racist LIAR to get away with his LIES is even more incredible:

1) “[G]et us energy independent, North American energy independent. That creates about 4 million jobs”.

2) “I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut. I don’t have a tax cut of a scale that you’re talking about.”

3) “My view is that we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class. But I’m not going to reduce the share of taxes paid by high-income people.”

4) “My — my number-one principle is, there will be no tax cut that adds to the deficit. I want to underline that: no tax cut that adds to the deficit.”

5) “I will not under any circumstances raise taxes on middle-income families. I will lower taxes on middle-income families. Now, you cite a study. There are six other studies that looked at the study you describe and say it’s completely wrong.”

6) “I saw a study that came out today that said you’re going to raise taxes by $3,000 to $4,000 on middle-income families.”

7) “And the reason is because small business pays that individual rate; 54 percent of America’s workers work in businesses that are taxed not at the corporate tax rate, but at the individual tax rate….97 percent of the businesses are not — not taxed at the 35 percent tax rate, they’re taxed at a lower rate. But those businesses that are in the last 3 percent of businesses happen to employ half — half of all the people who work in small business.”

8) “Mr. President, all of the increase in natural gas and oil has happened on private land, not on government land. On government land, your administration has cut the number of permits and licenses in half.”

9) “The president’s put it in place as much public debt — almost as much debt held by the public as all prior presidents combined.”

10) “That’s why the National Federation of Independent Businesses said your plan will kill 700,000 jobs. I don’t want to kill jobs in this environment.”

11) “What we do have right now is a setting where I’d like to bring money from overseas back to this country.”

12) “I would like to take the Medicaid dollars that go to states and say to a state, you’re going to get what you got last year, plus inflation, plus 1 percent, and then you’re going to manage your care for your poor in the way you think best.”

13) “I want to take that $716 billion you’ve cut and put it back into Medicare…. But the idea of cutting $716 billion from Medicare to be able to balance the additional cost of Obamacare is, in my opinion, a mistake.”

14) “What I support is no change for current retirees and near-retirees to Medicare.”

15) “Number two is for people coming along that are young, what I do to make sure that we can keep Medicare in place for them is to allow them either to choose the current Medicare program or a private plan. Their choice. They get to choose — and they’ll have at least two plans that will be entirely at no cost to them.”

16) “And, by the way the idea came not even from Paul Ryan or — or Senator Wyden, who’s the co-author of the bill with — with Paul Ryan in the Senate, but also it came from Bill — Bill Clinton’s chief of staff.”

17) “Well, I would repeal and replace it. We’re not going to get rid of all regulation. You have to have regulation. And there are some parts of Dodd-Frank that make all the sense in the world.”

18) “But I wouldn’t designate five banks as too big to fail and give them a blank check. That’s one of the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank… We need to get rid of that provision because it’s killing regional and small banks. They’re getting hurt.”

19) “And, unfortunately, when — when — when you look at Obamacare, the Congressional Budget Office has said it will cost $2,500 a year more than traditional insurance. So it’s adding to cost.”

20) “[I]t puts in place an unelected board that’s going to tell people ultimately what kind of treatments they can have. I don’t like that idea.”

21) “Right now, the CBO says up to 20 million people will lose their insurance as Obamacare goes into effect next year. And likewise, a study by McKinsey and Company of American businesses said 30 percent of them are anticipating dropping people from coverage.”

22) “I like the way we did it [health care] in Massachusetts…What were some differences? We didn’t raise taxes.”

24) “Preexisting conditions are covered under my plan.”

25) “In one year, you provided $90 billion in breaks to the green energy world. Now, I like green energy as well, but that’s about 50 years’ worth of what oil and gas receives.”

26) “I think about half of [the green firms Obama invested in], of the ones have been invested in have gone out of business. A number of them happened to be owned by people who were contributors to your campaigns.”

27) “If the president’s reelected you’ll see dramatic cuts to our military.”

Most Ridiculous Rationalizations Heard On Progressive Radio

(1) "THE VOTER PREFERENCE NUMBERS ARE LOCKED IN (FOR EACH CANDIDATE) SO THEY WON'T MOVE." Excuse me, but the target audience for Romney and Obama was that narrow sliver of "undecided" and "independent" voters. The post-debare flash polls showed those voters thought Romney won the debate.

(2) "THIS (ROMNEY'S GOOD PERFORMANCE v. OBAMA's BAD ONE) HAD TO HAPPEN, BECAUSE IT WAS TOO ONE-SIDED." HUH?! Excuse me, Einsteins, but what's wrong with "one-sided"? The more "one-sided" in the President's favor the better the race is for down-ballot Democrats and hopes of retaking the House. Call it fuzzy 'sexy liberal' logic.

Mitt Romney's Offensive And Condescending Zinger

THIS PASSAGE HAS BEEN LARGELY OVERLOOKED, BUT WHEN PRESIDENT OBAMA correctly noted that Romney's tax plan would add $5 trillion to the deficit, according to independent analysis, exempting the top 2%, who would see their taxes cut substantially while slamming the middle class, Romney spat out the mother of all projections, along with an offensive, condescending, racist 'dog whistle' inference that President Obama was like Romney's five "boys" when they lied:

"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."

This, coming from the biggest, most consistent, pathological LIAR in the history of modern presidential campaigns not only qualifies as the mother of all projections, but 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.)

:58 SECOND POST-DEBATE ANALYSIS

THE MSNBC PUNDITS ARE ALL CORRECT: WHERE WAS OBAMA TONIGHT?! The President did not challenge Romney on the $716 billion canard, on health care, specifically that ER care is an appropriate substitute for no health insurance, did not challenge Romney on Obamacare, jobs. Jim Lehrer, the moderator, who is a Republican sympathizer, picked a cornucopia of topics near and dear to the Beltway and those of his ilk, as Rachel noted, but left a whole bunch of issues important to Americans out, and skewed the field in Romney's favor, no matter what his buddy Lawrence says. It was frustrating to be cursing Romney's unanswered LIES and see the President not fight back. Mr. President, you cannot sit on your lead; that's not good enough.

I, ROMBOT: LET THE DEBATE BEGIN

THE IDIOT PUNDITOCRACY ARE IN THEIR GLORY RIGHT ABOUT NOW, and the pre-debate "show" has become as mind-numbing as a wall-to-wall chatterbox giving us surround-sound versions of the same boring over-analysis. We'll keep our powder dry as the so-called "experts" eagerly earn their keep (each one trying to outdo the other with the cleverest line), and unpack this thing after the dust has settled with our own, unique analysis. Fifty-eight seconds, and change, will do.

THE FACE-OFF

Music Break: Here There's House of Blues; In Brazil, Casa do Samba

A LITTLE BIT OF MAGIC FROM JORGE BEN AND IVETE SANGALO ... Jorge is the coolest (and luckiest) cat you'll ever see in his studied indifference to duets of his songs with beautiful, gorgeous Divas:

And here's Ivete Sangalo ROCKING Madison Square Garden:

Kudos To Martin Bashir — Big FAIL To His Sellout Colleagues

FOR UPHOLDING THE BRITISH PRESS TRADITION of being a primary source for learning what's going on in American politics. Despite the virtual MSM Media news blackout and, I believe, corporate owner threats of repercussions for 'going down this road', Martin led his show with the Ann Romney statement of concern for her husband's "mental well-being."

It's a simple thing for Martin: It's newsworthy; so he asked all the relevant questions of his guests. Curiously, there was a lot of dodging, even for Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, who doesn't usually avert such issues, and even more reticence from the other guests. Nothing Martin could do about it.

Meanwhile, the total news blackout of Ann Romney's statement was complete in all the programming surrounding Martin's — a stark, outrageous demonstration of American Media self-censorship in action. One doesn't have to wear a tinfoil hat to know this isn't a mere coincidence of free, unrestricted editorial judgment. Tamron Hall, for instance, who's become an unwatchable tool, spent more wasted time with her wingnut pet from Iowa than covering issues of interest to progressives. Thom Hartmann was "astounded" the Media hasn't covered this story. Remember the 3:00 AM phone call ad? That was one presidential cycle ago, and Ann Romney's statement spoke directly to those concerns.

Memo To Hardball's Chris Matthews (as Dean of the MSNBC corporate vassalage): You ought to take a page from your colleague Martin Bashir — it's the one that speaks to journalistic integrity, no matter the  consequences or corporate owner displeasure. And Chris, how many "dictators" have you known to be locked in a "close election" or distributed cheap heating oil to poor Americans, a magnanimous gesture considering CIA attempts to depose him? So you discover your inner progressive only to project your Goldwater Neanderthal virus south of the border? That's not how it works, pal.

Too Many "Resets" Point To A Faulty CPU

CHRIS CHRISTIE, QUITE LITERALLY THE BIG ELEPHANT IN THE GOP ROOM, said Wednesday's presidential debate is an opportunity for Mitt Romney to "hit the reset button," predicting a gamechanger for Mitt and 'Morning in America' on Thursday. Hmm ... by my count this is at least the fourth "reset" following Iowa-New Hampshire, Santorum-Gingrich, Etch-A-Sketch, and a string of devastating hits, from 47% to loose lips Annie, leading up to the debate.

Gov. Christie, it seems to me, is doing his emotionally fragile charge no favors with the extra trash talkin' performance pressure. When Ann Romney expressed concern for the RomBot's "mental well-being" that's usually an indication that a ROBOT's Central Processing Unit may be terminally fried. Not that the American people would be comfortable with the RomBot picking up that 3:00 AM call, in the first place ... Would we?!

A JOURNALISM Primer For The Beltway/MSM Media Re: Romney's Mental State

NO MORE EXCUSES! ANN ROMNEY JUST RAISED THE QUESTION. This is amazing to me; how in this day and age, post-Watergate and Nixon's well publicized crack-up while bombing the hell out of Vietnam, that the ENTIRE journalist class — from the widespread pretenders, from the chattering cable class to the New York Times — have more than studiously avoided this issue, as if it's the Plague; i.e. the journalistic equivalent of bird flu or the West Nile virus. The whole post-Watergate reform idea was to cut such issues off at the pass, before another madman is elected. Despite David Axelrod's Shakesperean observation that election campaigns, in the end, bare the candidate's soul to the public ... That may be, David, as long as the Media does its job.

In this case, you the Media don't even have to go out on a limb and anger your corporate masters: Ann Romney did your legwork, gave you cover, raised the issue, herself, of her husband's "mental well-being" and the "emotional part" of being President and handed it to you on a silver platter. Hello?! Is anybody home? (It's 3:00 AM.)

Memo To The Media (So-Called Journalists): Your job is to ask the questions and seek clarification. Here are a few suggestions: (1) What does Ann Romney mean by Mitt's "mental well-being"? (2) If she is so concerned, does this presuppose it was an issue in his past political incarnations? (3) If so, are they concealing some aspect of Mitt's "mental well-being" that the public should know about? (4) For example, does Romney become unhinged, or "confused" as Chris Matthews has suggested, when under pressure? (5) Has Romney ever sought professional help for "emotional" problems? And so on. This is no joke. The most famous example of such a belated political bombshell was the revelation that George McGovern's vice presidential choice, Tom Eagleton, had had electroshock therapy to treat depression.

Like the concealment of Romney's taxes, Eagleton judged this personal aspect of his life to be inconsequential, so he kept it from the public and the campaign. Richard Nixon, who crushed McGovern, was a well-known caricature of a crazed politician. Turns out it was true, as we read the sordid details of his crack-up in Bob Woodward's books. But not before the election, impeachment, Nixon's resignation in disgrace, and blow to the body politic, described by Nixon's successor, President Ford, as "our long national nightmare." The ultimate irony in all of this is that in breaking Watergate the Media actually did its job. Those days are largely over now.