Romney's "pious baloney"

Any claim by Romney that he hasn't been running for president since at least 2002, if not earlier, is clearly balderdash. Read this 2007 New York Times article:

"...the 1994 defeat did not end the pull of his father’s ambitions. Three years later [1997], citing Steve Forbes as an example of a businessman-candidate, Mr. Romney mentioned to his brother that he was thinking of a run for the presidency."

The close of this article should also put serious fear into any true conservative. The GOP's "inevitable" nominee is a wolf in Mitt's clothing, who even if he wins the Presidency, will likely follow the disastrous course of Bush 41 rather than Reagan.

"Mitt Romney said he learned his political values from his father, pointing to the health insurance program he introduced in Massachusetts as something his pragmatic father would have favored. It provided private insurance for the poor by tapping taxpayer money set aside to cover their emergency room visits, winning bipartisan support.

“If you listen to what my opponents have to say — ‘Romney is just trying to move to the right to appeal to the right wing of the Republican Party’ — well, why is it that in the last months of my governorship that I helped push through a plan to help give health insurance to everybody in the state?” Mr. Romney said.

Expect more of the moderate side of Mitt Romney if he makes it to the general election, said Mr. Eyre, his friend and his father’s former aide. “I think you will say to yourself, ‘That looks a lot like George,’” Mr. Eyre said. “You are going to see a different part of Mitt than what we see now and, frankly, I think it will come to him more naturally.”"

Romney's conservative facelift

This headline made me LOL: Coulter: Gingrich Is The Sharron Angle And Christine O'Donnell Of GOP Field

Seriously? The conservative leader who re-took the House of Representatives (and coincidentally the Senate) for the first time in 40 years -- is akin to Angle and O'Donnell? Ann Coulter hasn't just sipped the Romney Kool-Aid, she is punch-drunk on the stuff. When Coulter called Romney "the most conservative" GOP candidate, her credibility as a conservative commentator was completely shot in my view. She is completely ignoring previous statements by Romney himself, where he calls himself a "moderate" and "progressive" (see 2002 video).

And if you don't take Romney at his word -- and who in their right mind should? -- it seems the Americans surveyed in this poll are wise enough to see through the consultants' attack ads and focus-grouped media appearances.

(CNSNews.com) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia is leading former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential race by 20 points—41 percent to 21 percent--among self-professed conservatives, according to a new Gallup poll released Thursday.

By contrast, Romney is leading Gingrich by 10 points—27 percent to 17 percent—among self-professed liberals and moderates in the poll.

Source: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/gallup-gingrich-leads-romney-20-points-among-conservatives-romney-leads-gingrich-10

To his great credit, Rush Limbaugh hasn't been afraid to call Romney "not a conservative."

Sharpton’s civil-rights group juggling tax woes

Al Sharpton's "Lean Forward" ad on MSNBC always stikes me as bizarre (see below).



Now it appears the blueberry pie is all over Sharpton's face, as evidenced in this article:

Sharpton’s civil-rights group juggling tax woes - NYPOST.com

Apparently, even Saturday Night Live -- hardly a conservative venue -- couldn't resist poking fun at Sharpton this weekend.

Romney's bad, bad bet

Mitt's bet was a foolish gesture on two levels. First, it was absolutely tone-deaf toward the plight of millions of Americans who are unemployed or struggling to make end meet.

But on another level, it raises questions about something Romney has emphasized of late: his faith and values! Note what the Church of Latter Day Saints says about gambling:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is opposed to gambling, including lotteries sponsored by governments. Church leaders have encouraged Church members to join with others in opposing the legalization and government sponsorship of any form of gambling.

-- http://tinyurl.com/cwck8m6

Is Romney's core so shallow that he'll toss his faith aside just to score a debating point? He seemed to be offering a handshake like it was a sincere bet...

Mitt v Mitt

If you thought John Kerry was a flip-flopper, watch this video montage produced by the DNC. Kerry looks stubborn and steadfast in comparison to Romney.

In a position shift, Romney says the cause of climate change is unknown

In a position shift, Romney says the cause of climate change is unknown - The Hill's E2-Wire

2007: Mitt Romney Supported Amnesty On 'Meet The Press' (VIDEO)

Mitt Romney’s craven equivocations on immigration - The Plum Line - The Washington Post

Mitt Romney’s craven equivocations on immigration - The Plum Line - The Washington Post

Romney, who governed as a centrist technocrat in Massachusetts, is trying to exploit Newt’s display of empathy and sanity on immigration to get to Newt’s right, in a bid to shore up his conservative credentials. But even though his campaign is criticizing Newt for not supporting deportation, his campaign won’t say whether he would support deportation, because he knows that such a display would harm him in a general election.

Something similar happened recently on the payroll tax cut. Romney criticized the payroll tax cut extension, because it was proposed by Obama and faulting it would presumably appeal to GOP primary voters. But his campaign wouldn’t state clearly that he opposes extending it, presumably because that would be used against him in a general election.

The Real Romney?

It's anybody's guess what Mitt Romney really stands for, other than fulfilling some sense of destiny (or outdoing his dad's legacy) in reaching the Oval Office. Such naked ambition should be a concern to any voter.

Here is another reminder of the pandering phoniness from a man who will in all likelihood be on the 2012 GOP ticket. Why Limbaugh and his ilk endorsed this fake says a lot about the Talking Cons credibility -- or lack thereof!

On shortcuts and corrosion

Speaking about torture, President Obama said this during his April 29 press conference:

I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens, had 200 or so detainees. And Churchill said, "We don't torture," when the entire British -- all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat.

And then the reason was that Churchill understood, you start taking short-cuts, over time, that corrodes what's -- what's best in a people. It corrodes the character of a country.

Is not abortion just such a "short-cut" which "corrodes the character of a country"? It would be refreshing to find more "pro-choice" adherents acknowledge the moral violations of a procedure that in many cases, causes pain to an unborn baby before its life is extinguished.

Abortion is every bit as egregious as torture, if not worse, because it constitutes a brutal action against innocent life pitting a mother against a child for the sake of convenience.

Romney rakes it in, doesn't dole it out - POLITICO.com

READ: omney rakes it in, doesn't dole it out - POLITICO.com

Mitt Romney’s political action committee has raised $571,000 this year, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. ...

This year, it’s spent $10,000 on travel, $74,000 on staff salaries and benefits and $118,000 on consulting, including $20,000 for “strategy consulting” to Beth Myers, who ran his unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign, and $10,000 to Peter Flaherty, who was a key advisor to the campaign.

Those payments dwarf the $16,000 it contributed to candidates.

Why am I not surprised. I've heard some refer to Obama as narcisstic, but Mitt Romney is certainly no angel of selflessness.

Romney 2012: Not an auspicious start in wooing conservatives—By Ken Silverstein (Harper's Magazine)

Romney 2012: Not an auspicious start in wooing conservatives—By Ken Silverstein (Harper's Magazine)

This article is great -- here's a sampler...

A source who attended the event passed on to me his thoughts about the conference, which appears not to have gone well for Romney. Recall that during last year’s G.O.P. nomination battle, Romney had a hard time convincing the conservative base that he was the real thing.

Things got interesting following Gov. Romney’s rehearsed, vacuous speech, filled with standard Republican feel-good talking points with few specifics. One participant said that “Mitt’s speech featured his typical empty platitudes and consultant-driven talking points.”

Let's remember too all the talking heads who backed Romney in 2008 -- Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter. What little credibility these pundits had left is being flushed away with their egomaniacal tirades of late.

Obama's safety net: the TelePrompter

READ: Obama's safety net: the TelePrompter

I felt Obama's first press conference was excruciatingly dull and uninspiring; far worse than all the scorn heaped on Gov. Jindal's performance last week.

Using a TelePrompter is fine, but to use it for everything? That suggests a lack of confidence in one's self and one's policies, it seems to me...

Obama has relied on a teleprompter through even the shortest announcements and when repeating the same lines on his economic stimulus plan that he's been saying for months — whereas past presidents have mostly worked off of notes on the podium except during major speeches, such as the State of the Union. ...
“He uses them to death,” a television crewmember who also covered the White House under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush said of the teleprompter. “The problem is, he never looks at you. He’s looking left, right, left, right — not at the camera. It’s almost like he’s not making eye contact with the American people.”

The audacity of borrowing

READ: The audacity of borrowing:

"So what is scaring the bond traders? ... The upshot is that the United States has serious long-term fiscal challenges, between the downturn, an aging population, and major entitlement programs. None of the options for getting out of the mess looked particularly palatable. And that was before the president spoke of an extra trillion dollars for health care.

Despite claims of a new realism, the administration's budget is loaded with optimism. It assumes the economy will have a quicker and more vigorous recovery than most private forecasters predict. It assumes that individuals won't change their behavior much to avoid new, higher tax rates. It assumes that sacred cows such as mortgage interest deductibility and agricultural subsidies are ready to be made into hamburgers. And even with all this optimism, the administration predicts red ink as far as the eye can see."

I would support tax increases beginning in FY2011, but NOT to pay for new spending -- we must first begin paying on what we're already "entitled" to in terms of Social Security, Medicare, etc. It's only going to get worse in the decades to come, so this is not to time to go blowing money creating new entitlements. Pay for our existing obligations (and not with smoke and mirrors); then come back and talk to me about universal health care.

Blagojevich gets six-figure book deal

READ: Blagojevich gets six-figure book deal

It's unlikely he will be convicted before October, so this pathetic rodent manages to score an advance windfall from Phoenix Books. Because his actions occurred while in office, the former Gov-vermin is also exempt from civil lawsuits. Meanwhile, Illinois is still forced to contend with Senator Burris, whose own reputation is sinking fast.

This is so completely FUBAR...