27 August 2012. Grand Olde Phonies Muzzle Ron Paul… Fancy That

I don’t agree with Ron Paul (1935- ), but he’s got convictions, at the least. Note well that Mittens wouldn’t let him speak freely at the Republican Convention in Tampa… there’ll be no “Pat Buchanan moment” for him. This means that the Paul faithful may very well sit out the election… something that Mittens doesn’t need. How do you spell S-T-U-P-I-D?

“In your guts, you know he’s nuts”… that applies MUCH more to Mittens than it ever did to Old Barry…

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Take a look at this:

Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign gave US Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) a chance to speak at the Republican National Convention, but he declined, due to the conditions of the offer, the New York Times reported:

In an interview, Mr Paul said convention planners had offered him an opportunity to speak under two conditions:

• that he deliver remarks vetted by the Romney campaign
• that he give a full-fledged endorsement of Mr Romney

He declined, saying, “It wouldn’t be my speech. That would undo everything I’ve done in the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president”.

Republicans plan to show a tribute video honoring the the retiring libertarian politician Tuesday at the convention. Paul is also holding his own rally nearby on Sunday afternoon.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/ron-paul-romney-don-t-fully-endorse-him-132604061.html

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This is why the Grand Olde Phonies are heading for a train-wreck in November. They’re not only barring Ron Paul from the convention, they’re barring virtually all of the Right’s darlings, as well. That’s not a wise move… however, who ever accused Mittens of having wisdom? He’s doing everything possible to lose, and he’ll do so… for actions do have consequences.

BMD 

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The Unbearable Awfulness of the 2012 Election Campaign

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When the Republican race for the presidential candidacy started, I thought it’d be fun to write a series of columns tracking the 2012 election campaign race from its beginnings to its conclusion this November. I’d poke fun at fatuous press dribbling, the evasions, and misrepresentations of the candidates, etc. That ended when I realised that the whole Republican race was a freak show beyond parody, consisting of nothing but gimps, lepers, and glue-sniffers. Well, it wasn’t that bad but you get my gist. There was Newt Gingrich, talking about Outer Space; Rick Perry, high as a kite on painkillers; Herman Cain, and his ladies; Rick Santorum, wanting to puke over JFK; Michele Bachman doing her low-budget Sarah Palin schtick; a few other nonentities; and, of course, Ron Paul. All Mitt Romney had to do was stand there, smile, and do nothing to remind people he was a Mormon. He won easily. There was no point writing about it.

Romney’s a preppy, upper-crust CEO type, lacking in people skills. As for Obama, the days when he would appear on TV instead of American Idol and ramble on about whatever he wanted to, Chávez-style, are gone, but he still has a high opinion of his charm and oratorical skills. The president was reportedly delighted with the GOP’s selection. The Democrats set the tone early, as Obama surrogates started digging for filth on this well-groomed, caffeine-dodging executive. Ancient yarns about Romney the teenage school bully and Romney tying his pooch to the roof of a car were unearthed as evidence of his diabolical character. Hacks and media lapdogs ran with both tales, but neither really took off.

Next, the Democrats decided to reignite the “Culture Wars” by making it mandatory for the Catholic Church to provide free contraceptives to frisky young lassies in their institutions and, also, Sandra Fluke. Cue conservative outrage, and lots of media jibber-jabber about the Republican war on women, Republicans tying women to the roof of Mitt Romney’s car, the Republican Taliban, etc. It worked for a bit, but then passed. Then, came attacks on Romney’s business record, as Obama surrogates portrayed the Wooden Mormon as a cackling, top-hat wearing capitalist of the sort Mayakovsky drew in Bolshevik propaganda posters in the 1920s. Apparently, there was nothing Romney loved more than bathing in cash after asset-stripping a firm and firing all its employees. These attacks backfired because there are plenty of gazillionaire Democrat asset-stripping venture capitalists and a few politicians voiced their disapproval of all these attacks on capitalism, which is, after all, a big part of the American Way of Life. So, the strategy then shifted to outright innuendo and lies… a whispering campaign that Romney hadn’t paid taxes since the Mormons practised polygamy in the 19th century, and, oh yeah, that he kinda sorta killed some dude’s wife, while taking a bath in money. Kinda.

That last attack, which appeared in a Democrat ad, and was swiftly revealed to contain no truth whatsoever, impressed me with its sheer chutzpah. The media duly talked about it for a few days, whilst Romney just stood there, wooden, preppy, grinning nervously; eager to escape to the next board meeting where he could perhaps fire some people and take a bath in money. He dispatched an underling to make a weak response, and, then, a few days later accused Obama of running a campaign based on “division and anger and hate”, an assessment not entirely without merit, but then he let the attack slip away and soon we were back to talking about his dog strapped eternally to the roof of his car yipping for release.

How times have changed! I enjoyed the election in 2008 because it made so little sense. Obama talked sweetly, conjuring a magical fluffy cloud out of words, inviting the people to come float away with him to a wondrous land where there was no hate or political division, and where the government didn’t keep foreigners locked up forever at Guantánamo Bay. This time around, it’s all about personal attacks, innuendo, gibberish, and appeals to special interest groups. Still, 2008 and 2012 do have one crucial factor in common… in neither campaign, has Obama run on his record. Four years ago, it was because he didn’t have one, so, it was all hope, change, and millenarian blather; this time around, he does have a record, but it’s clearly not anything he wants to talk about, other than, “Yeah dude, I totally blew a hole in bin Laden’s head”. The media is still pretty friendly to Obama, so they’ll happily run with stories about Romney’s dog or push unfounded accusations about his business record if they get an opportunity. Thus, the election is about everything except what’s important, which is something that rhymes with “economy”. Instead, we get a perpetual side show display of inanity, bumbling, distractions, and general rottenness. I’d say, “Wake me up when it’s over”, but I’m about to leave the country for a few weeks, so, that may not be necessary. I’ll save my nap for when I get back.

24 August 2012

Daniel Kalder

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/columnists/20120824/175419645.html

Editor’s Note:

I’ve noticed a great deal of “battle fatigue” amongst those covering this excuse for a political campaign. No one, but no one, has ANY enthusiasm whatsoever over it. Yes, many of us are willing to vote for “the lesser of two evils”, but there’s no “fire” in it. On the one hand, Mittens is unrepentantly greedy… “Yes, I screwed people unmercifully to get where I am today. I’m secretive, and I don’t owe you a damn thing, except to pay extortionate taxes so that I and my friends don’t have to… and I’m going to cut all programmes for ordinary people because I and my friends don’t want to pay for them”. On the other, Obama’s supremely feckless… “I promised to end the wars and close Gitmo… but that wasn’t expedient, so I didn’t do it. I won’t do anything that’s remotely unpleasant for me and my backers. If you don’t like that, find another planet to live on. I know that the One Percent parties hearty whilst most people suffer, but that’s life. I like the money that my rich backers give me, so I won’t cramp their style”.

In short, many people want to vote for “none of the above”. Neither the GOP or Dems are trusted… NEITHER. The Dems are seen as having turned their backs on New Deal square-dealing and the GOP’s seen as violating the principles of its most-revered leaders (Lincoln, TR, and Ike). Both are seen as greedy and grasping enablers of the rich… the Dems are simply less blatant about it (and will keep the social safety net somewhat intact). That’s why no one has any “fire in their belly” over the present campaign. NOBODY GIVES A SHIT. Everybody just wants it all to end, and we all know that we’re stuck with this shit for two more excruciatingly-long months. I think that the turnout this year will be the lowest in decades, if not in history. That’s sad… and it vitiates every criticism that American “conservatives” and “liberals” hurl at Russia… especially, if the turnout at the American presidential election is less than that in the late Russian election (65 percent of eligible Russian voters actually cast a ballot in 2012, compared to 63 percent of American voters actually voting in 2008). Vova will lift a glass and smile… and he’ll have every right to.

Mr Kalder’s struck a vein of pure gold here. However, who’s going to listen?

BMD

“And Then There Was One”… Congressman Ron Paul Won’t Run In Any More US Presidential Primaries

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US Republican Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, said that he wouldn’t run in any more primaries, but he didn’t wrap up his presidential campaign, saying, “I’m not going to spend any further money from my campaign fund in any primary in the states that haven’t voted yet”. The campaign continues as former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has become the de facto front-runner for the Republican Party nomination for President, as after nearly all of his rivals have dropped out, except for Paul. Most observers considered that Paul was an outsider in the race… in the primaries so far, he was in last or next-to-last place.

If Paul stops running in the primaries, they’ll become virtually uncontested races. Nevertheless, Paul said, “I’ll continue to fight for voting delegates to the Party Convention”, which will be in late August in Tampa FL, to choose a candidate to run in presidential election on 6 November. As Paul explained, he intends to fight on, taking part in regional party conventions, which include those states that already held primary elections. Thus, Paul hopes to get votes from delegates who supported former candidates who’ve dropped out of the race. So far, Romney has 919 committed delegates for the party convention, Paul has only 82 committed delegates. To win nomination, a candidate needs the support of 1,144 delegates. Incumbent President Obama will run on the Democratic line; various polls have him ahead of Romney by 7 to 10 percentage points.

14 May 2012

Denis Voroshilov

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/world/20120514/649298345.html

Gingrich and Romney: The Florida Battle

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The remaining four contenders for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination faced off for the last time before Floridians go to the polls on Tuesday. Despite it being the 19th such debate, it was a key event for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in what has become a two-man race. Gingrich and Romney came out of the door swinging and the debate largely became a battle between the two frontrunners. The first question in the CNN-hosted debate came from an audience member who asked about illegal immigration, which has become a theme in the race this week. It’s fitting given the size of Florida’s immigrant community, but also because of recent attacks by the Gingrich campaign calling Mitt Romney “anti-immigrant”. In the exchange that followed, Romney said, “I’m not anti-immigrant. My father was born in Mexico. My wife’s father was born in Wales. They came to this country. The idea that I’m anti-immigrant is repulsive”.

If Romney wanted an apology, he didn’t get one and Gingrich only escalated the attack, saying, “You tell me what language you’d use to describe someone who thinks that deporting a grandmother or grandfather from their family… just tell me what language you would use”. However, earlier in the day, US Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) voiced objections to Gingrich’s campaign ad and they pulled it off the air. He told CBS This Morning that the tactic wasn’t good for the Republican Party, saying, “Whoever wins this nomination is going to have to come back to Florida in the fall and win again. I want to make sure that we don’t have candidates saying things that we’re going to have to come back and defend”.

Romney kept up his attack on Gingrich for working for Freddie Mac, the government supported mortgage giant, work for which Gingrich received around 1.5 million dollars (45.26 million Roubles. 1.135 million Euros. 953,000 UK Pounds) for services. Gingrich, however, used information recently revealed that Mitt Romney had invested in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to the tune of a half million dollars (15.1 million Roubles. 380,000 Euros. 320,000 UK Pounds), saying, “We discovered to our shock that Governor Romney made a million dollars (30.17 million Roubles. 760,000 Euros. 635,000 UK Pounds) of selling some of that and [he] has shares in Goldman Sachs which is today foreclosing on Floridians”. Romney responded that he didn’t know where many of his investments went because they were handled by a blind trust. Whilst Romney may have been risking further alienating himself from the voters, as he has been known to do, he seemed more confident in his response and said he was not going to apologise for his success, saying, “There are bonds that the investor has held through mutual funds, but, Mr Speaker, have you checked your own investments? You also have investments in mutual funds that also have investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac”.

Before long, former US Senator Rick Santorum and Congressman Ron Paul stepped in, making an effort to stop the two opponents from bickering about their own wealth. Santorum suggested that one’s own success should be off limits, saying, “Governor Romney went out and worked hard. Leave that alone and talk about the issues”. Ron Paul proposed a simple solution, saying, “The question is, ‘What are we going to do about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?’ [They] should have been auctioned off”.

If this was the most contentious of the debates so far, that’s because Florida could be “do or die” for the candidates in this unique primary race in which all the rules have been thrown out and the swing state may have even more say in who the Republican nominee will be. Additionally, the two candidates are in a statistical dead-heat, with Newt Gingrich losing some steam after his South Carolina victory gave him a Florida bump. The negativity in Florida is palpable and not just in the debate. In the airwaves attack ads dominate. In addition to the ad calling Romney anti-immigrant, a Romney ad took on Gingrich for a comment in which he referred to the “language of the ghetto”. When Gingrich brought it up in the debate, however, Romney initially denied the ad, saying it probably wasn’t from his own campaign. However, a quick fact check at the debate showed that it was, undermining Romney’s statement and leading to headlines.

Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota who dropped out of the race a few months ago, told VOR that was the wrong story, saying, “I think the focus should be on did Newt say that or imply that. Third-party groups have looked at it and said that’s what he said”. Whilst Pawlenty endorsed Mitt Romney, former Congressman Bill McCollum who ran for Florida governor in the Republican primary, endorsed Newt Gingrich. After the debate, he told VOR that he thought Newt Gingrich handled the debate well, saying, “I thought he answered the questions just fine. The anti-immigration thing, Romney rehearsed… but Newt’s immigration policy is sound”. However, there were some lighter moments in the debate. When Wolf Blitzer noted that Ron Paul would be the oldest president if elected and asked if he would show his medical records, Ron Paul responded that he would challenge anyone on the stage to a 25-mile bike ride, adding, in jest, “There are laws about age discrimination, so you better be careful”.

27 January 2012

Carmen Russell-Sluchansky

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/27/64734338.html