Must Reads

Jim Tankersley: The Truth About Romney's Tax Plan: It's a Pipe Dream

Jason Easley: 63% of Americans Demand That Mitt Romney Release His Tax Returns

Tommy Christopher: Fox’s Liz Trotta: ‘Ladies Of The Press’ Envy Ann Romney For Marrying Rich Guy

Imani Gandy (ABL): Missouri Rep. Todd Akin Wants to Ban the Morning After Pill Because He is Stupid

Josh Rogin: Romney's Japan Remark Raises Eyebrows

Booman: Kevin Drum Is Flailing

Steve Benen: The standards for 'embarrassment'

Michael Kinsley: Obama's Ruthless Politics vs. Romney's Ruthless Management

David Frum: Why Ryan?

Paul Begala: With Ryan, Romney Has the Plutocrat Ticket

Michael Tomasky: Romney’s Stunning, Terrible Choice of Ryan for VP

President Obama's Weekly Address - August 11, 2012

All-Hands-On-Deck Response to the Drought

Mitt Romney: Just Trust Me

Are you fucking kidding me?!

ROMNEY: “[O]ur campaign would be-- helped immensely if we had an agreement between both campaigns that we were only going to talk about issues and that attacks based upon-- business or family or taxes or things of that nature." 

[...] 

“[W]e only talk about issues. And we can talk about the differences between our positions and our opponent's position.” Romney said of his own campaign: “[O]ur ads haven't gone after the president personally. … [W]e haven't dredged up the old stuff that people talked about last time around. We haven't gone after the personal things.”

Personal things? PERSONAL THINGS?!

For a fucking year now, Mitt Romney has been touting his time as a the rootinest, tootinest bobtailed wildcat north, south, east or west of the Great Salt Lake. He's the kick ass and take names private sector job creator at his private equity firm, Bain Capital. He's a master CEO who created a bajillion jobs, and it's through this amazing experience in the private sector which President Obama lacks, that he is better suited to run the U.S. of A. That's all we've heard from this sleazy, used car salesman.

And now with less than 90 days to go, now that we are in the thick of it campaign-wise, now that the dirty little dealings of Bain's vulture capitalism are coming to light, now that we find out that Mitt Romney was still the de facto head of Bain for three years after the time he claims he left, now he's claiming that what he's been putting front and center as the cornerstone of his leadership bona fides is "personal' and shouldn't be subject to criticism?

I say again: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!

Now all of this is stemming from the Priorities USA SuperPAC ad centering on Joe Soptic, a victim of Bain's vulture capitalism. Everyone on the right is having an apoplectic fit over the ad, saying it goes too far and points to Romney as Soptic's wife's murderer after she was stricken with cancer but waited too long for treatment because they had lost their health insurance. They're all laying it at the feet of the Obama campaign when the fact of the matter is that it's a SuperPAC ad, not an Obama campaign ad.

How do you like Citizens' United now, bitches?

Mitt Romney 2012: Just Trust Me.

And the Voter Suppression Begins

Here we go. Make up bullshit rules, and even if they're deemed illegal and unenforceable, the mass confusion it causes will deny arguably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of eligible voters across the country their Constitutional right to vote.

Reports of voters being turned away because they declined to check a box asking them to verify U.S. citizenship have been coming in from several areas of [Michigan] state.

Michigan Radio first became aware of the situation when talking to Michigan Campaign Finance Network's Rich Robinson who said he was refused a ballot because he would not check the box. He refused because it is not legally required... 

...When Rich Robinson went to the polls in East Lansing this morning, poll workers refused to give him a ballot because he would not check a box declaring he was a U.S. citizen. Checking that box is not required under law. Robinson works for the Michigan Campaign Finance Network and is familiar with election law. He says he wonders how many others are being denied the right to vote today because local election officials are misinformed.

“If the information couldn’t travel accurately five miles down Michigan Avenue from the capitol to the East Lansing City Clerk, what’s going on in Ontonagon or Monroe or points in between."

And all of this is due to the decision of Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to add the citizenship box on the ballot after the bill requesting that provision was vetoed by Governor Rick Snyder. You know, because voter fraud and freedoms.

This doesn't even begin to tackle the subject of voter ID laws tantamount to poll taxes and what will be considered legal ID in the differing eyes of thousands and thousands of volunteer percent workers. I don't know about you, but I've seen the people manning my voting booths, and I don't think they're capable of filling out a postal service change of address form, let alone figure out what's a real ID and what isn't.

Marvin Hamlisch 1944-2012

LA Times: Celebrated composer Marvin Hamlisch, best known for the Tony Award-winning "A Chorus Line" and the movie classic "The Sting," has died in Los Angeles. He was 68.

Family spokesman Jason Lee said Hamlisch died Monday after a brief illness, but he did not provide additional details, according to the Associated Press.

Hamlisch was a prolific composer. His work included the Oscar-winning score and song for "The Way We Were," as well as "Sophie's Choice," "Ordinary People," "Ice Castles" and, most recently, "The Informant."

Rafalca's Olympic Dreams Are Over

Yeah... that's a shame.

Rafalca the horse returned to the Olympic spotlight Tuesday for her second and final round of competition in equestrian dressage. Stephen Colbert's favorite horse was mathematically eliminated from the individual competition, as was the U.S. in the team medal race... 

...Rafalca, a 15-year-old, German-bred mare, is co-owned by Mitt Romney's wife Ann, and has inspired jokes and financial questions about the Republican presidential candidate. 

[Ann] Romney said Rafalca had another "fabulous" ride and that she's thinking of breeding the German-born mare. "It was wonderful. She was elegant and consistent again. 

We just love her." She said that after Ebeling competes with Rafalca for another year or two, they might try to breed her.

Or Mitt may just nominate Rafalca as the VP candidate at the convention.

...The left-leaning Guardian newspaper headlined its coverage of Rafalca's debut: "Ann Romney's Horse Fails to Win Dressage but Avoids Offending British."

BOOM!

Fightin' Harry Reid Not Backing Down

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid stated he spoke with someone who claimed Mitt Romney hadn't paid taxes in 10 years.

Reid suggested that Romney’s decision to withhold tax information would bar him from ever earning Senate confirmation to a Cabinet post. Then, Reid recalled a phone call his office received about a month ago from “a person who had invested with Bain Capital,” according to The Huffington Post. 

Reid said the person told him: “Harry, he didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years.” 

“He didn’t pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain,” Reid told HuffPo. “But obviously he can’t release those tax returns. How would it look?”

Good question, Harry. It would look pretty shitty, especially considering Romney's tax plan would give even more tax cuts to the have mores, and cut social and medical programs to pay for it. The burden of proof is on Romney. He can shut down all of those claiming he's got something to hide by releasing his returns. It's really that simple.

Reid's comments have caused an apoplectic fit among the right, with RNC Chairman calling Reid a "dirty liar" on the Sunday talk shows. I would take their protests seriously if they hadn't been so completely silent on the Birther issue looking the other way when anyone in their party asked for proof of President Obama's citizenship.

Well Reid and his office aren't backing down just because poor, little Reince Priebus and Lindsey Graham get their panties in a knot calling Reid a liar. In fact, it's only gotten harsher.

“They’re a bunch of cowards, and they’re avoiding the issue,” said David Krone, Reid’s chief of staff, in an interview with POLITICO on Sunday night. “Lindsey Graham, Reince Priebus — they’re a bunch of henchmen for Romney, and they’re all reading off the same talking points. They couldn’t hold a candle to Harry Reid.” 

Krone added: “What Harry Reid said is the fact of what he was told. To turn it around, all their childish rants this weekend about calling Reid a ‘liar’ and all that, it just shows you how scared they are that Harry Reid was telling the truth.”  

As far as I'm concerned, it's political gamesmanship. This time though, the GOP is crying foul because they're on the short end. So if the GOP has been unwilling to publicly put the Birther issue to rest once and for all, if they continue to embrace the Tea Party when Tea Party leaders insist that President Obama release his medical records to prove he's not a gay crack addict, if they're willing to call Harry Reid a liar but keep mum on Mitt Romney's blatant lie that the Obama administration is trying to suppress the military vote in Ohio, then game on, motherfuckers.


(Cross-posted at ABLC)