웃

so, if they had travelled together INTO the UK, get the #### out of Ireland, the couple would not have had this problem.
Perhaps was a medical insurance thing, to stay in Ireland, as well?
If'n I was in the husband's position, after hearing the first 'no', I'd have tickets in hand to get to somewhere where abortion IS legal.
Religion Sucks.

Do you ever get tired of saying the same, condesending "I know more than you" garbage? I sure get tired of reading it.
This woman was having a miscarriage. The child was not going to live. And they denied the mother the option of terminating her pregnancy, even though she was suffering, and they were told it's because they are a Catholic country. And now the mother is dead due to her complications. If that sits well with you, then great. I disagree. But what do I know, right?

From Jan 2001 to Jan 2009 Bush created 1,095,000 jobs.
That is 136,875 jobs per year.
Last month the private sector added 184,000 jobs.

What does this MEAN?
And why won't people back up the "Democrats vote on race" thing?
I've been told that Obama got 94% of the black vote. Can I get some statistics on how many voted that way due to race alone? Thanks

Yet a higher percentage of women voted for Obama. I think your fantasy land needs some adjusting. This is also the second topic like this you've posted this month. Are you feeling bad about yourself and trying to cheer yourself up?

No, I didn't expect that you would, you'd much rather post about your bizarre personal behaviour. Seriously dude, no one gives a toss.

And nobody gives two sh*ts.

the most important thing in your list that is very very important is abolishing this tax free status for ALL churches. Alot of corruption going on there. If we tax them surely our deficits will diminish overnite. someone needs to concentrate on that. Also that 10% church tites exemtpion is BS. Tax them hard. Even God should not be able to avoid the wrath of IRS.

No your not. You're mad as hell. You could have tried harder to hide it but you FAILED. Just like your boy Mitt.

It's a little bit too Christian for my liking.

It's a little bit too Christian for my liking.

Republicans haven't balanced a budget in forever.
JFK was a Senator and I doubt anyone knew who he was at the time.
The last time Republicans balanced a budget gasoline was 24 cents, my dad was 4 years old (he is turning 60 in a few months), average house cost $2300.
The hula hoop and the barbie doll did not even exist.

you should meet the KKK before you condemn it. you should also learn about it's origin and history, rather than just knee-jerking in fear as you were taught to by people who gave you a free standing fear with no significant factual basis.
the klan was formed during the post civil war period in the southern states, which were under union controlled martial law and lacked civil government entirely for several years. in the subsequent reformation of civil government all individuals who served in any military or related capacity for the confederacy were entirely disenfranchised from the right to vote by enforcement of an "iron clad oath" policy that northern politicians pressed lincoln to sign into law in 1864. lincoln rightly refused, but the following union military government in the southern states enforced the policy for 9 years, anyway, prohibiting nearly 80% of white voters from casting ballots or running for office.
the klan was created in the absence of civil government and acted openly in it's stead in the absence of adequate military policing and government. many men were tried and publicly executed on sunday afternoons for a wide variety of capital offenses from 1865-1873 under klan tribunals. most of those executed were white. their offenses were the same as those of earlier civil times, and assigned the same penalties. in this period "carpetbaggers" (northern whites with political and economic interests) flocked to the south to run for office, not being bound by the iron clad oath. they were elected, and their economic interest perverted law and commerce in the south in an enduring manner. the famous SCOTUS case usually referred to as "Slaughterhouse" still plagues civil rights and empowers excessive federal intervention.
in 1873 the Grand Wizard of the United Klan petitioned Grant for relief of the union military government and the iron clad oath restriction, indicating that his refusal would cause another civil war. grant acceded, and civil order was restored over the next decade. the klan remained as a social organization. some members commited criminal acts in retributive anger, but the majority of members remained law abiding citizens.
the klan was re-envigorated in the 1890's, and by 1920 was the nation's largest social order, with 30-40% of US citizens registered as klan members. klan organizations ran public charities for war veterans, minorities, disabled, widows and children. klan organizations built schools, churches and hospitals for whites, and blacks, alike. there was even a "women's klan", and a "colored's klan" during the years between the world wars.
incidentally, the klan costume originated in catholic ceremony. klan costumes are the same as the catholic ritual costumes that were commonly owned in southern states by a largely catholic population. catholicism was a cultural identity item that separated southern whites from northern presbyterian carpetbaggers and the comercial manipulators they brought with them in the post civil war period to exploit a weakened and vulnerable south. it was an extension of the old "roundheads" and "cavaliers" conflict.
this lesson in American history brought to you by justashooter. i am justashooter, and i endorse this message. thank you for reading a history that is, though entirely factual, less than politically correct in this age of the American "tossed salad". personally, i think the melting pot worked much better.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney make their final closing arguments:

Comments like the above show little regards for reality or factual evidence.
I love however, the passion displayed for the leader of the poster and the unyielding manner s/he tugs the party line at the expense of his/her own individuality.
YGG!!!

Nice speech. I am voting for Obama so we can be more like Sweden.

"Let the voting begin! First two towns can now cast their ballots."
http://www.huffingto...kusaolp00000003

Nice speech. I am voting for Obama so we can be more like Sweden.

oh, yeah...that prison industrial complex is a b*tch..

Perhaps spelling isn't one of yours.

The following scenarios show Romney WINNING OHIO which honestly is a long-shot but STILL LOSING THE ELECTION.
1) Romney wins OH but Obama wins Wisconsin and Virginia = O 276 R 262

2) Romney wins OH but Obama wins Wisconsin and Colorado = O 272 R 266

3) Romney wins OH and WI but Obama takes VA and CO = O 275 R 263

**There are a couple ways that Romney can win the election (again, they all are on the assumption OH goes to Romney which is unlikely)**
1) Romney wins OH, WI, VA, CO, and NH = R 289 O 249
2) Romney wins OH, WI, VA, and CO = R 285 O 253
3) Romney wins OH, VA, and CO but Obama wins NH and WI = R 275 O 263

**When you accept the reality that Romney loses OH there is only ONE possible way Romney can win. That is:
1) Romney takes WI, VA, CO, and NH = Romney 271 O 267

The other routes with Romney losing OH all show an Obama victory (take any of NH, CO, WI, VA away and the losses just start piling on).
Last but not least here is my prediction:

It is the exact same electoral map as InTrade, but I am being generous and giving CO and VA to Romney. FYI they only are listing CO and VA as tossup states:

Snatching Defeat from Victory: GOP Death by a Thousand Self-Inflected Cuts
Here’s a list of the unforced errors – in no particular order — made by the GOP, the candidates, the staff or their surrogates that I believe have undermined the Romney-Ryan campaign and assured the re-election of President Obama:

The fake Romney Hurricane Sandy relief event. This was so transparent and so immature as to be cringe-worthy even among opponents. Not the least among its flaws was that it demonstrated that the Romney-Ryan camp doesn’t know the most basic things about disaster relief. The Jeep moves to China lie. This one, noted the GM spokesman, shows that the Romney-Ryan camp is ignorant of the “fundamentals” of the auto industry. It prompted a Chrysler executive to tell Donald Trump he was “full of ######.” The welfare work requirements lie. The Medicare cuts lie. Binders full of women. The story was bad enough, but the gaffe was confounded by both its hypocrisy and its dishonesty. Three weeks (so far), at the end of the campaign, without an interview and four weeks without taking a question from the press pool. Jumping the gun on Libya. Romney’s repeated (was it really 14 times?) refusal to answer direct questions about his view of FEMA. Ryan’s soup kitchen invasion. Turning an ambassador’s death into a political attack tool. The 47% fiasco. Romney’s “acts of terror” error. Insulting London at the Olympics. The selection of Ryan as a running mate. Romney was so vague on policy that voters assumed the notorious Ryan budget represented Romney’s thinking. And little wonder: “I’m very supportive of the Ryan budget plan. It’s a bold and exciting effort on his part and on the part of the Republicans and it’s very much consistent with what I put out earlier…I applaud it. It’s an excellent piece of work and very much needed”; “He is setting the right tone for finally getting spending and entitlements under control. …Anyone who has read my book knows that we are on the same page”; “I think it’d be marvelous if the Senate were to pick up Paul Ryan’s budget and to adopt it and pass it along to the president”; “I spent a good deal of time with Congressman Ryan. When his plan came out, I applauded it, as an important step. We’re going to have to make changes like the ones Paul Ryan proposed”; “Paul Ryan and I have been working together over some months to talk about our mutual plans and we’re on the same page.” Ayn Rand. Failure to withdraw endorsement of a candidate who said pregnancies that result from rape is a gift from god. Pretending disinterest in Ann’s Olympic dressage competition. Ryan’s “we haven’t run the numbers yet” and “it would take too long to explain” excuses for the lack of any specifics on the Romney-Ryan tax plan. Romney’s failure to mention military personnel, Al Qaeda or Afghanistan in his convention speech. The number of ships in the US Navy. The cultural superiority explanation for the differences in wealth between Israelis and Palestinians. The Eastwood insanity. The stubborn refusal to back down from fact-checked fibs and equally stubborn refusal to provide any policy specifics. Wanting to open an airplane window at 30,000 feet. “I’m not concerned with the very poor.” “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.” In 10 years of running for president, Romney has never hired anyone who could teach him to fake compassion, humility or empathy – to even appear to be able to connect with others. Russia is our #1 foe. Obama was not doing enough to protect Czechoslovakia from “the Soviets.” (Neither country exists.) “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.” Gunning for Big Bird. “I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes,” adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said. “It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.” Romney told voters that he knows what it’s like to “worry whether you’re going to get fired,” adding that “there were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.” Rick Perry quipped that he has “no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out” while heading up Bain, given “all the jobs that they killed.” Romney recounted some “good advice” from his father, Michigan Gov. George Romney: “Mitt, never get involved in politics if you have to win an election to pay a mortgage.” Mitt then bragged that, in 1994, Ted Kennedy was forced to take out a mortgage on his house to defeat Romney, suggesting that only rich people should run for office. Retroactive retirement from Bain Capital. “Food stamp president.” “Kiss my ####. This is a holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect.” In 10 years of running for president, Romney never figured out how to talk about his wealth. He’s never had good answers to entirely predictable questions about Bain Capital’s business practices, his own taxes and his investments. Romney responded to a question about his money-related gaffes — such as referring to his friends who own NFL teams — by angrily insisting, “Guess what? I’ve made a lot of money, I’ve been very successful, and I’m not going to apologize for that.” It wasn’t the first time Romney had faced this kind of question, but he still didn’t have a gracious answer ready. A senior member of the Romney team, asked what the campaign planned to address the class-based criticism of Romney, snapped, “Nobody cares about that #######.” Tone deaf. Stone cold tone deaf. Tax returns as yet unreleased. “I like to fire people.” (Yes, taken out of context, but evidence of a fatal tone-deafness.) Donald Trump. The “you didn’t build it” lie. Romney doubled down on his characterization of Obama as a “foreigner” during an interview on CNBC, insisting that the president believes that the government is responsible for the success of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Rejecting the convention speech written by a professional (Peter Wehner), a second set of pros from the Bush camp, and then scrambling to write a substitute speech in just a few days. Wanting to “take a swing” at the president. Sending Obama “back to Kenya.” “We’re going to have to hang the ‘Obama Misery Index’ around his neck…. We’re going to hang him with that, so to speak, metaphorically.” Romney’s birth certificate “joke.” The trees are “just the right height.” Obama is incapable of understanding the special “Anglo-American” relationship. The “free stuff” crack at the NAACP. Romney’s sons helping his campaign is the equivalent of service in the military. Cleaning a post-game football field equated with responding to the devastation of a hurricane of historic proportions. “Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs.” “I’m also unemployed.” “Corporations are people, my friend.” (Yes, taken out of context, but evidence of a fatal tone-deafness.) The $10,000 bet offer to Rick Perry. The middle class is defined as $250,000 or less per year. $374,000 is “not very much” money. Ryan blaming Obama for the plant that closed under Bush. Ryan’s made-up marathon time. Ryan’s body fat claim. Paul Ryan’s mountain climbing claim. Ryan’s staged workout photo shoot. Ryan claiming Obama has doubled the size of government. Saying Obama was in New York City the same day as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but went on a TV show instead of meeting with him. The non-existent “six studies.” Claiming Biden endorses forced abortions. Claiming electric cars were built in Finland with stimulus money. “I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners.” “I’ve got a lot of good friends, the owner Miami Dolphins, and the New York Jets —both owners are friends of mine.” Revival of the death panels canard. The Coca-Cola study that no one can find. “We’ve lost 26 million jobs since (Obama’s) been president.” The BLS cooked the jobless numbers. Obama is lazy. Obama wants to raise “the lowest (income) tax rate from 10 to 15 percent.” Powell’s endorsement is motivated by race. A GOP anti-immigration platform plank drafted by the author of Arizona’s controversial SB 1070. A GOP platform plank against the non-existent threat of Sharia Law. Obama needs to learn to be an American. Transvaginal probes. Legitimate rape. Forcible rape. A GOP platform plank that rejects the idea of any exceptions to laws banning abortion in cases of rape or incest. We need fewer teachers, police and fire fighters. Note that this list doesn’t even touch on Romney’s standing as the preeminent flip-flopper of our time and only hints at his record-setting mendacity (now over 900 lies chronicled).
Economist and policy professor Robert Reich notes that the campaign’s biggest gaffe was in miscalculating what most Americans want. As he put it: “The Republican primaries, and then the Republican convention, have shown America a party far removed from the ‘compassionate conservatism’ the GOP tried to sell in 2000. Instead, we have a party that’s been taken over by Tea Partiers, nativists, social Darwinists, homophobes, right-wing evangelicals, and a few rich people whose only interest is to become even wealthier…(Romney’s) giving this GOP exactly what it wants in a candidate. And that’s exactly the problem for Romney — as it is for every other Republican candidate — because what the GOP wants is not at all what the rest of America wants.”
When you examine where most Americans are on Medicare, Social Security, taxes, education, immigration, abortion, Planned Parenthood, contraception, FEMA, gay and lesbian equal rights, equal pay for women, the uninsured, the poor, the unemployed, pre-existing conditions, education and even Big Bird, it becomes clear that Reich is correct. Romney will lose because his campaign was amateurish, and its greatest gaffe was in selling a product most of us do not wish to buy.

Snatching Defeat from Victory: GOP Death by a Thousand Self-Inflected Cuts
Here’s a list of the unforced errors – in no particular order — made by the GOP, the candidates, the staff or their surrogates that I believe have undermined the Romney-Ryan campaign and assured the re-election of President Obama:

The fake Romney Hurricane Sandy relief event. This was so transparent and so immature as to be cringe-worthy even among opponents. Not the least among its flaws was that it demonstrated that the Romney-Ryan camp doesn’t know the most basic things about disaster relief. The Jeep moves to China lie. This one, noted the GM spokesman, shows that the Romney-Ryan camp is ignorant of the “fundamentals” of the auto industry. It prompted a Chrysler executive to tell Donald Trump he was “full of ######.” The welfare work requirements lie. The Medicare cuts lie. Binders full of women. The story was bad enough, but the gaffe was confounded by both its hypocrisy and its dishonesty. Three weeks (so far), at the end of the campaign, without an interview and four weeks without taking a question from the press pool. Jumping the gun on Libya. Romney’s repeated (was it really 14 times?) refusal to answer direct questions about his view of FEMA. Ryan’s soup kitchen invasion. Turning an ambassador’s death into a political attack tool. The 47% fiasco. Romney’s “acts of terror” error. Insulting London at the Olympics. The selection of Ryan as a running mate. Romney was so vague on policy that voters assumed the notorious Ryan budget represented Romney’s thinking. And little wonder: “I’m very supportive of the Ryan budget plan. It’s a bold and exciting effort on his part and on the part of the Republicans and it’s very much consistent with what I put out earlier…I applaud it. It’s an excellent piece of work and very much needed”; “He is setting the right tone for finally getting spending and entitlements under control. …Anyone who has read my book knows that we are on the same page”; “I think it’d be marvelous if the Senate were to pick up Paul Ryan’s budget and to adopt it and pass it along to the president”; “I spent a good deal of time with Congressman Ryan. When his plan came out, I applauded it, as an important step. We’re going to have to make changes like the ones Paul Ryan proposed”; “Paul Ryan and I have been working together over some months to talk about our mutual plans and we’re on the same page.” Ayn Rand. Failure to withdraw endorsement of a candidate who said pregnancies that result from rape is a gift from god. Pretending disinterest in Ann’s Olympic dressage competition. Ryan’s “we haven’t run the numbers yet” and “it would take too long to explain” excuses for the lack of any specifics on the Romney-Ryan tax plan. Romney’s failure to mention military personnel, Al Qaeda or Afghanistan in his convention speech. The number of ships in the US Navy. The cultural superiority explanation for the differences in wealth between Israelis and Palestinians. The Eastwood insanity. The stubborn refusal to back down from fact-checked fibs and equally stubborn refusal to provide any policy specifics. Wanting to open an airplane window at 30,000 feet. “I’m not concerned with the very poor.” “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.” In 10 years of running for president, Romney has never hired anyone who could teach him to fake compassion, humility or empathy – to even appear to be able to connect with others. Russia is our #1 foe. Obama was not doing enough to protect Czechoslovakia from “the Soviets.” (Neither country exists.) “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.” Gunning for Big Bird. “I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes,” adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said. “It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.” Romney told voters that he knows what it’s like to “worry whether you’re going to get fired,” adding that “there were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.” Rick Perry quipped that he has “no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out” while heading up Bain, given “all the jobs that they killed.” Romney recounted some “good advice” from his father, Michigan Gov. George Romney: “Mitt, never get involved in politics if you have to win an election to pay a mortgage.” Mitt then bragged that, in 1994, Ted Kennedy was forced to take out a mortgage on his house to defeat Romney, suggesting that only rich people should run for office. Retroactive retirement from Bain Capital. “Food stamp president.” “Kiss my ####. This is a holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect.” In 10 years of running for president, Romney never figured out how to talk about his wealth. He’s never had good answers to entirely predictable questions about Bain Capital’s business practices, his own taxes and his investments. Romney responded to a question about his money-related gaffes — such as referring to his friends who own NFL teams — by angrily insisting, “Guess what? I’ve made a lot of money, I’ve been very successful, and I’m not going to apologize for that.” It wasn’t the first time Romney had faced this kind of question, but he still didn’t have a gracious answer ready. A senior member of the Romney team, asked what the campaign planned to address the class-based criticism of Romney, snapped, “Nobody cares about that #######.” Tone deaf. Stone cold tone deaf. Tax returns as yet unreleased. “I like to fire people.” (Yes, taken out of context, but evidence of a fatal tone-deafness.) Donald Trump. The “you didn’t build it” lie. Romney doubled down on his characterization of Obama as a “foreigner” during an interview on CNBC, insisting that the president believes that the government is responsible for the success of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Rejecting the convention speech written by a professional (Peter Wehner), a second set of pros from the Bush camp, and then scrambling to write a substitute speech in just a few days. Wanting to “take a swing” at the president. Sending Obama “back to Kenya.” “We’re going to have to hang the ‘Obama Misery Index’ around his neck…. We’re going to hang him with that, so to speak, metaphorically.” Romney’s birth certificate “joke.” The trees are “just the right height.” Obama is incapable of understanding the special “Anglo-American” relationship. The “free stuff” crack at the NAACP. Romney’s sons helping his campaign is the equivalent of service in the military. Cleaning a post-game football field equated with responding to the devastation of a hurricane of historic proportions. “Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs.” “I’m also unemployed.” “Corporations are people, my friend.” (Yes, taken out of context, but evidence of a fatal tone-deafness.) The $10,000 bet offer to Rick Perry. The middle class is defined as $250,000 or less per year. $374,000 is “not very much” money. Ryan blaming Obama for the plant that closed under Bush. Ryan’s made-up marathon time. Ryan’s body fat claim. Paul Ryan’s mountain climbing claim. Ryan’s staged workout photo shoot. Ryan claiming Obama has doubled the size of government. Saying Obama was in New York City the same day as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but went on a TV show instead of meeting with him. The non-existent “six studies.” Claiming Biden endorses forced abortions. Claiming electric cars were built in Finland with stimulus money. “I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners.” “I’ve got a lot of good friends, the owner Miami Dolphins, and the New York Jets —both owners are friends of mine.” Revival of the death panels canard. The Coca-Cola study that no one can find. “We’ve lost 26 million jobs since (Obama’s) been president.” The BLS cooked the jobless numbers. Obama is lazy. Obama wants to raise “the lowest (income) tax rate from 10 to 15 percent.” Powell’s endorsement is motivated by race. A GOP anti-immigration platform plank drafted by the author of Arizona’s controversial SB 1070. A GOP platform plank against the non-existent threat of Sharia Law. Obama needs to learn to be an American. Transvaginal probes. Legitimate rape. Forcible rape. A GOP platform plank that rejects the idea of any exceptions to laws banning abortion in cases of rape or incest. We need fewer teachers, police and fire fighters. Note that this list doesn’t even touch on Romney’s standing as the preeminent flip-flopper of our time and only hints at his record-setting mendacity (now over 900 lies chronicled).
Economist and policy professor Robert Reich notes that the campaign’s biggest gaffe was in miscalculating what most Americans want. As he put it: “The Republican primaries, and then the Republican convention, have shown America a party far removed from the ‘compassionate conservatism’ the GOP tried to sell in 2000. Instead, we have a party that’s been taken over by Tea Partiers, nativists, social Darwinists, homophobes, right-wing evangelicals, and a few rich people whose only interest is to become even wealthier…(Romney’s) giving this GOP exactly what it wants in a candidate. And that’s exactly the problem for Romney — as it is for every other Republican candidate — because what the GOP wants is not at all what the rest of America wants.”
When you examine where most Americans are on Medicare, Social Security, taxes, education, immigration, abortion, Planned Parenthood, contraception, FEMA, gay and lesbian equal rights, equal pay for women, the uninsured, the poor, the unemployed, pre-existing conditions, education and even Big Bird, it becomes clear that Reich is correct. Romney will lose because his campaign was amateurish, and its greatest gaffe was in selling a product most of us do not wish to buy.

Snatching Defeat from Victory: GOP Death by a Thousand Self-Inflected Cuts
Here’s a list of the unforced errors – in no particular order — made by the GOP, the candidates, the staff or their surrogates that I believe have undermined the Romney-Ryan campaign and assured the re-election of President Obama:

The fake Romney Hurricane Sandy relief event. This was so transparent and so immature as to be cringe-worthy even among opponents. Not the least among its flaws was that it demonstrated that the Romney-Ryan camp doesn’t know the most basic things about disaster relief. The Jeep moves to China lie. This one, noted the GM spokesman, shows that the Romney-Ryan camp is ignorant of the “fundamentals” of the auto industry. It prompted a Chrysler executive to tell Donald Trump he was “full of ######.” The welfare work requirements lie. The Medicare cuts lie. Binders full of women. The story was bad enough, but the gaffe was confounded by both its hypocrisy and its dishonesty. Three weeks (so far), at the end of the campaign, without an interview and four weeks without taking a question from the press pool. Jumping the gun on Libya. Romney’s repeated (was it really 14 times?) refusal to answer direct questions about his view of FEMA. Ryan’s soup kitchen invasion. Turning an ambassador’s death into a political attack tool. The 47% fiasco. Romney’s “acts of terror” error. Insulting London at the Olympics. The selection of Ryan as a running mate. Romney was so vague on policy that voters assumed the notorious Ryan budget represented Romney’s thinking. And little wonder: “I’m very supportive of the Ryan budget plan. It’s a bold and exciting effort on his part and on the part of the Republicans and it’s very much consistent with what I put out earlier…I applaud it. It’s an excellent piece of work and very much needed”; “He is setting the right tone for finally getting spending and entitlements under control. …Anyone who has read my book knows that we are on the same page”; “I think it’d be marvelous if the Senate were to pick up Paul Ryan’s budget and to adopt it and pass it along to the president”; “I spent a good deal of time with Congressman Ryan. When his plan came out, I applauded it, as an important step. We’re going to have to make changes like the ones Paul Ryan proposed”; “Paul Ryan and I have been working together over some months to talk about our mutual plans and we’re on the same page.” Ayn Rand. Failure to withdraw endorsement of a candidate who said pregnancies that result from rape is a gift from god. Pretending disinterest in Ann’s Olympic dressage competition. Ryan’s “we haven’t run the numbers yet” and “it would take too long to explain” excuses for the lack of any specifics on the Romney-Ryan tax plan. Romney’s failure to mention military personnel, Al Qaeda or Afghanistan in his convention speech. The number of ships in the US Navy. The cultural superiority explanation for the differences in wealth between Israelis and Palestinians. The Eastwood insanity. The stubborn refusal to back down from fact-checked fibs and equally stubborn refusal to provide any policy specifics. Wanting to open an airplane window at 30,000 feet. “I’m not concerned with the very poor.” “I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.” In 10 years of running for president, Romney has never hired anyone who could teach him to fake compassion, humility or empathy – to even appear to be able to connect with others. Russia is our #1 foe. Obama was not doing enough to protect Czechoslovakia from “the Soviets.” (Neither country exists.) “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.” Gunning for Big Bird. “I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes,” adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said. “It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up, and we start all over again.” Romney told voters that he knows what it’s like to “worry whether you’re going to get fired,” adding that “there were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.” Rick Perry quipped that he has “no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out” while heading up Bain, given “all the jobs that they killed.” Romney recounted some “good advice” from his father, Michigan Gov. George Romney: “Mitt, never get involved in politics if you have to win an election to pay a mortgage.” Mitt then bragged that, in 1994, Ted Kennedy was forced to take out a mortgage on his house to defeat Romney, suggesting that only rich people should run for office. Retroactive retirement from Bain Capital. “Food stamp president.” “Kiss my ####. This is a holy site for the Polish people. Show some respect.” In 10 years of running for president, Romney never figured out how to talk about his wealth. He’s never had good answers to entirely predictable questions about Bain Capital’s business practices, his own taxes and his investments. Romney responded to a question about his money-related gaffes — such as referring to his friends who own NFL teams — by angrily insisting, “Guess what? I’ve made a lot of money, I’ve been very successful, and I’m not going to apologize for that.” It wasn’t the first time Romney had faced this kind of question, but he still didn’t have a gracious answer ready. A senior member of the Romney team, asked what the campaign planned to address the class-based criticism of Romney, snapped, “Nobody cares about that #######.” Tone deaf. Stone cold tone deaf. Tax returns as yet unreleased. “I like to fire people.” (Yes, taken out of context, but evidence of a fatal tone-deafness.) Donald Trump. The “you didn’t build it” lie. Romney doubled down on his characterization of Obama as a “foreigner” during an interview on CNBC, insisting that the president believes that the government is responsible for the success of entrepreneurs and small businesses. Rejecting the convention speech written by a professional (Peter Wehner), a second set of pros from the Bush camp, and then scrambling to write a substitute speech in just a few days. Wanting to “take a swing” at the president. Sending Obama “back to Kenya.” “We’re going to have to hang the ‘Obama Misery Index’ around his neck…. We’re going to hang him with that, so to speak, metaphorically.” Romney’s birth certificate “joke.” The trees are “just the right height.” Obama is incapable of understanding the special “Anglo-American” relationship. The “free stuff” crack at the NAACP. Romney’s sons helping his campaign is the equivalent of service in the military. Cleaning a post-game football field equated with responding to the devastation of a hurricane of historic proportions. “Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs.” “I’m also unemployed.” “Corporations are people, my friend.” (Yes, taken out of context, but evidence of a fatal tone-deafness.) The $10,000 bet offer to Rick Perry. The middle class is defined as $250,000 or less per year. $374,000 is “not very much” money. Ryan blaming Obama for the plant that closed under Bush. Ryan’s made-up marathon time. Ryan’s body fat claim. Paul Ryan’s mountain climbing claim. Ryan’s staged workout photo shoot. Ryan claiming Obama has doubled the size of government. Saying Obama was in New York City the same day as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but went on a TV show instead of meeting with him. The non-existent “six studies.” Claiming Biden endorses forced abortions. Claiming electric cars were built in Finland with stimulus money. “I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners.” “I’ve got a lot of good friends, the owner Miami Dolphins, and the New York Jets —both owners are friends of mine.” Revival of the death panels canard. The Coca-Cola study that no one can find. “We’ve lost 26 million jobs since (Obama’s) been president.” The BLS cooked the jobless numbers. Obama is lazy. Obama wants to raise “the lowest (income) tax rate from 10 to 15 percent.” Powell’s endorsement is motivated by race. A GOP anti-immigration platform plank drafted by the author of Arizona’s controversial SB 1070. A GOP platform plank against the non-existent threat of Sharia Law. Obama needs to learn to be an American. Transvaginal probes. Legitimate rape. Forcible rape. A GOP platform plank that rejects the idea of any exceptions to laws banning abortion in cases of rape or incest. We need fewer teachers, police and fire fighters. Note that this list doesn’t even touch on Romney’s standing as the preeminent flip-flopper of our time and only hints at his record-setting mendacity (now over 900 lies chronicled).
Economist and policy professor Robert Reich notes that the campaign’s biggest gaffe was in miscalculating what most Americans want. As he put it: “The Republican primaries, and then the Republican convention, have shown America a party far removed from the ‘compassionate conservatism’ the GOP tried to sell in 2000. Instead, we have a party that’s been taken over by Tea Partiers, nativists, social Darwinists, homophobes, right-wing evangelicals, and a few rich people whose only interest is to become even wealthier…(Romney’s) giving this GOP exactly what it wants in a candidate. And that’s exactly the problem for Romney — as it is for every other Republican candidate — because what the GOP wants is not at all what the rest of America wants.”
When you examine where most Americans are on Medicare, Social Security, taxes, education, immigration, abortion, Planned Parenthood, contraception, FEMA, gay and lesbian equal rights, equal pay for women, the uninsured, the poor, the unemployed, pre-existing conditions, education and even Big Bird, it becomes clear that Reich is correct. Romney will lose because his campaign was amateurish, and its greatest gaffe was in selling a product most of us do not wish to buy.