Romney Proves Himself To Be A Pandering Coward

Leadership takes guts. Leadership takes balls. Leadership means occasionally having to make a tough decision and stand up for what you think is right. And so far, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has shown none of those leadership qualities. Why else would he let a comment about trying President Obama for treason go without comment at one of his own town halls?



Now, I do believe Mitt Romney when he says that he disagrees with the woman who made the treason comment while asking a different question. But why is it that it took someone else to actually ask the question of Romney? Why didn't Romney take the bull by the horns like Sen. John McCain did in 2008 when confronted with a similar situation?

The answer of course, is that Mitt Romney has proven himself to be a pandering coward. He is willing to say anything or do anything to garner potential votes. What he and his staff don't realize is that he needn't pander to the extreme right wing. He doesn't have to cater to the crazies, because those nut jobs have no intention of voting for Barack Obama in the first place. He already has their votes. What he needs are moderates and independents to think he would make a good president, and by letting pivotal moments like this slide, he's showing the opposite.

And this happened on the heels of strategic advisor Richard Grenell resigning from the Romney camp without so much as a peep after conservatives balked at the thought of an openly gay man advising Mitt Romney. Heaven forbid! And to top it off, the main culprit, the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer, who stirred that anti-gay shit in the first place had this to say of Romney after the Grenell resignation:

How is he going to stand up to the Chinese? How is he going to stand up to Putin, how is he going to stand up to North Korea if he can be pushed around by a yokel like me? I mean, I don't think Romney is realizing the doubts that this begins to raise about his leadership.

Doubts about Romney's leadership. I couldn't agree more.

Visual Aid

POSTED BY JHW22

I'm a visual person. So a few weeks ago I decided I needed a chart that shows how many bills have been introduced to limit women's health care. But it was hard to find all the information to make an accurate chart. I even contacted my friend who is a well-connected Sociology professor on women's issues, and particularly women's reproductive care. But even her contacts couldn't get me information. Why? Because there is so damn much.

Today, I heard that the Guttmacher Institute released a report in January that documents the record number of bills proposed in 2011, across the country, to destroy abortion rights. I like their chart a lot. It's a very dramatic chart. But I still needed to make my own. Granted, theirs is based on facts and mine is based on rage, but you get the point.

WHEN DOES THIS SHIT STOP!?!

POSTED BY JHW22

This AZ bill would prevent parents from suing doctors for not telling them about any health conditions of their unborn babies. So, if a baby will have any life-threatening problems, the doctors won't be required to tell the parents prior to birth. Or, the parents don't have any recourse, at the least.

The reason: they don't want parents to choose abortion. SO, you may never consider abortion for a baby with health problems but because the doctor doesn't want to take that chance, you won't know to prepare for a baby's needs once its born. I, for one, would want to have everything lined up the second my child was born. To not be told of a health condition before the child's birth is the most backwards way of practicing health care. The right-wing's ideology is really putting lives at risk. How "pro-life".

And remember, all those transvaginal ultrasounds are meant to give women all the "facts" about her pregnancy. Or so the right-wing says.

A must read, seriously.

POSTED BY JHW2212

If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you must read this article in the Guardian. Jonathan Freedland has nailed so many points like no one I've read.

Here's a tease:

The Republican shift is now towards an anti-government fervour that recalls the militia movement of the 1990s, convinced that every Washington move – even a plan to expand healthcare – is motivated by wickedness and constitutes a step towards tyranny. In that context, any action to thwart the government beast is justified. Such ideas were always around on the lunatic fringe, but they have entered and now dominate the Republican mainstream. Today's Republicans are less like a traditional political party and 'more like an apocalyptic cult'. There is a bitter irony here, that the party that insists it is conservative and patriotic now threatens the centuries-old political system that lies at the core of the US's national identity.

Biden to Progressives: "Get In Gear, Man"

Rachel Maddow's interview with Vice President Joe Biden.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Quote of the Day

It is disingenuous for mainstream purveyors of incendiary far-right rhetoric to dismiss groups such as the Hutaree by saying that there are "crazies on both sides." This simply is not true.

...there has been explosive growth among far-right, militia-type groups that identify themselves as white supremacists, "constitutionalists," tax protesters and religious soldiers determined to kill people to uphold "Christian" values. ...we should never forget that the worst act of domestic terrorism ever committed in this country was authored by a member of the government-hating right wing: Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

It is dishonest for right-wing commentators to insist on an equivalence that does not exist. The danger of political violence in this country comes overwhelmingly from one direction -- the right, not the left. The vitriolic, anti-government hate speech that is spewed on talk radio every day -- and, quite regularly, at Tea Party rallies -- is calibrated not to inform but to incite.

~ Eugene Robinson, Washington Post