Mitt Romney Gets It. Wife Ann? Not So Much.

In a not so shocking first interview since his presidential election defeat, Mitt Rommney admitted that it's "killing him" not to be in the Oval Office. In a more than surprising admission, he blames his campaign (and I'm assuming himself) for not being able to connect with black and hispanic voters, and points to his "47 percent" debacle as the turning point of the race.

In a complete yawner, however (and who didn't see this coming), his wife Ann "I love you women" Romney is still in the dark and is perfectly willing to blame the media for her husband's rout, apparently unaware of the fact that a journalist's job is to report what her husband and his campaign say and do. Ann, being a one percenter, is so totally insulated from the real world, that it is unfathomable to her that the actions of her husband are what caused his downfall. It wasn't made up. It wasn't a lie. It happened.

Now, perhaps in the days before social media, a 24 hour cable news cycle and practically real time reporting through the Internet, a guy like Mitt Romney could have gotten away with some of his ridiculous gaffes and his real thoughts spoken in "private rooms" away from the media, but that's no longer the case. And someone who runs a 1950's style campaign in 2012 is going to suffer.

But Ann just doesn't get it because in her insular world, she can't see past the fences of her estate or the walls of her gated communities. To Ann, this was an unfair, epic takedown by the "librul" media of the only man who could possibly have the ability to run the country.

“It was not just the campaign’s fault," Ann Romney said. "I believe it was the media's fault as well, in that he was not being given a fair shake--that people weren’t allowed to really see him for who he was. I’m happy to blame the media.”

See - Ann doesn't get that "who he really was" was the man that showed his real side through the gaffes and statemens made in private rooms when he thought the rest of the world wasn't listening. Mitt really does think corporations are people. Mitt really does think that 47 percent of the country were voting for President Obama because they're moochers looking for free stuff. Mitt really isn't concerned about the poor because of the safety net they have - the same safety net he would have dismantled given the chance. Mitt doesn't have a clue as to what the actual income is of more than 90% of the population, and how could he? He's just as isolated and insulated as Ann.  But Ann will never understand what the rest of the world understands when she pretends to shop at Costco and doesn't have to worry about filling up her gas tank. Or paying her mortgage. Or having a job.

Now that Romney has admitted what's eating him up inside, it's only a  matter of time before we find a World Weekly News headline on the ever reclusive Mitt Romney taking a Howard Hughes turn, complete with long beard, hair, gnarled fingernails and toenails, designing his own Air Force One made entirely out of wood.

Donate -- YOU

Posted by JHW22

Are you a Democrat who is shy or nervous about talking politics yet you want to play a role in getting Obama re-elected? Well, I have a solution for ya.

You can register at www.barackobama.com and go to "volunteer" and make phone calls from your own home. You will have a simple script and they don't make you ask for money and they don't want you to try to convince anyone to vote for the man. They just want you to reach out and remind people of some of his accomplishments and maybe give some people who are on the fence a chance to talk to someone who is willing to make the time to call. I've done it and it's less intimidating after the first couple of calls. The people are nice or quick to dismiss you. I've never been yelled at and if I were to be, I can just end the call. You can pace yourself and probably find that the more calls you make, the less nervous you feel.

So, if you want to play a part but in a way that's less intimidating, consider this option. It's really easy and makes you feel like you did something productive. And it's free. So if you can't afford a donation, it's perfect!

Quote of the Day

"You can pretty much put their campaign on a tweet and have some characters to spare."

~President Obama on the GOP's campaign tactic for this presidential election.

Fired Up, Ready To Go!

President Obama in Columbus, Ohio today.

"This is a make or break moment for the middle class, and we've been through too much to turn back now."

And There Goes the Sane One

POSTED BY JHW22


Jon Huntsman is withdrawing from the campaign in the morning.

OK, Republican friends, this guy was your most mature, sane, reasonable candidates. I have been telling you for years that your party was slipping from your grip. Do you realize that this man would have given Obama, and America, an honest, fair challenge to hear and think about?

If I were a Republican, I'd be really sad for my party. As an American, I am really sad what the Republican party is doing to America.

Down Goes Cain! Down Goes Cain!

Seriously, Republican voters? Is this what it took?

Yesterday, Herman Cain announced that he was suspending his campaign.

“As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul-searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,” Mr. Cain said at a rally in Atlanta, surrounded by supporters chanting his name. “Because of the continued distractions, the continued hurt caused on me and my family, not because we are not fighters. Not because I’m not a fighter.”

...With his wife, Gloria, at his side at the Atlanta rally, Mr. Cain said the accusations of sexual harassment and of a 13-year affair were untrue. “I’m at peace with my God,” he said. “I’m at peace with my wife, and she is at peace with me.”

In yet another example of the death of the Republican Party, the Sociopath Who Would Be President fell to earth not because of his stellar foreign policy, not because he jokes/doesn't joke about electrocuting illegal immigrants crossing the border, not because of his video game economic plan, not due to his lack of knowledge on China's 47 year old nuclear program, not even because he didn't have the first clue on what the hell was going on in Libya. No, it would seem that the only thing that took down Herman Cain was Herman Cain.

The wingnuts can forgive stupidity when it comes to running the country, but not when it comes to various cases of sexual harassment claims and an alleged 13-year extramarital affair. That is of course, unless you're Newt Gingrich.

The difference between Cain and the thrice married, serial adulterer Gingrich, is that if you admit you're wrong, even if your explanation is complete bullshit, all is forgiven. But every indicator suggests Cain has never and will never admit to doing anything wrong.

Rick Perry and "Niggerhead"

Is Rick Perry a racist? He doesn't seem to be from what those who know him are saying. Was he a little more than insensitive in this situation? Absolutely, especially for a public servant.

WaPo: "In the early years of his political career, Rick Perry began hosting fellow lawmakers, friends and supporters at his family’s secluded West Texas hunting camp, a place known by the name painted in block letters across a large, flat rock standing upright at its gated entrance.

'Niggerhead,' it read."

Here's the insensitivity:

"...the name of this particular parcel did not change for years after it became associated with Rick Perry, first as a private citizen, then as a state official and finally as Texas governor. Some locals still call it that. As recently as this summer, the slablike rock — lying flat, the name still faintly visible beneath a coat of white paint — remained by the gated entrance to the camp."

Perry has a record showing he is not a racist, naming African-American justices and staff members during his tenure as Governor, but in trying to avoid the subject because it's not politically convenient at the current time shows he's more interested in damage control than having the courage to address this issue head on.

Elizabeth Warren Is For Real

Watch this now. Elizabeth Warren is running for Senate against (former?) Tea Party darling incumbent Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Watch her as she takes questions from Joe Scarborough and Mark Halperin who are showing obvious disdain for her. You can see it in their faces as they ask what I consider to be "gotcha" questions that she hit out of the park.

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

President Obama didn't fight for you? China's military aspirations? Great questions! If only they would ask serious questions of everyone that came on their show.

You can donate to Elizabeth Warren's campaign here.

Lose a House Seat, Gain a Senate Seat?

The House seat vacated by Anthony Weiner was filled last night by Republican Bob Turner. To put things in perspective, this particular district has been a Democratic stronghold for about 100 years, and although registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by a margin of 3 to 1 in NY-9, Turner came away with a win over Democratic nominee David Weprin by a 53-47 margin. There are some arguments that despite the district being Democratic, it's a conservative one. Take that for what you will, but I don't recall Anthony Weiner being very conservative.

That news doesn't bode well for 2012 in my opinion, but this does:

Elizabeth Warren officially announced her candidacy for Senate in Massachusetts on Wednesday morning in a short video posted to a new campaign website, www.elizabethwarren.com.

...Warren will attempt to take on Scott Brown, the Republican who won Edward M. Kennedy’s Senate seat in a special election after the veteran senator died in late 2009.

I hope the people of Massachusetts do the right thing this time.

Just Say "Oops" and Get Out!

This may be the fastest implosion of a presidential campaign in US history.

Newt Gingrich's campaign manager and numerous other key aides have resigned together, a strong blow to his hopes for the Republican presidential nomination.

Gingrich press spokesman Rick Tyler told The Associated Press that he's resigned along with campaign manager Rob Johnson, senior strategists and aides in key early primary states.

And I don't blame them. What serious candidate blames his extramarital affairs with two previous wives on his hard work and patriotism, has a half a million dollar rolling account at Tiffany's while touting fiscal conservatism, gets destroyed in a moment of clarity for criticizing the Paul Ryan budget and his Vouchercare program but soon backtracks after the backlash and says anyone who uses his words against him are liars, and decides to go on vacation just a couple of weeks after kicking off his campaign on YouTube?

Just says oops and get out. NEXT!

Talk About Thin Skin!

Look, I've always said Sarah Palin isn't going to run in 2012, and if she does, there's no way in hell she can get enough Independent votes, and moderate Republican votes for that matter, for her not to get stomped in the general election should she win the GOP primary. But Palin's main problem, besides being a mentally deficient, catty narcissist, is that she can't let any negative comment roll off her back without retaliating.

Newly hired Michele Bachmann adviser Ed Rollins told us what he thought of Palin in no uncertain terms. "Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years," she was pulled from obscurity and given the gift of a VP nomination, and she quit as Governor of Alaska when not being in the spotlight didn't suit her. All of what he said was true.

If she were serious, she'd still be in office, wouldn't be working for Fox, wouldn't have starred in a reality series, wouldn't be horking in on someone else's reality TV time, and wouldn't be traipsing around on "vacation" in a billboard with wheels. If she were serious, her team wouldn't asking for Rollins to retract his statement either.

"Beltway political strategist Ed Rollins has a long, long track record of taking high profile jobs and promptly sticking his foot in his mouth," said Sarah PAC chief of staff Michael Glassner in an emailed statement. "To no one's surprise he has done it again, while also fueling a contrived narrative about the presidential race by the mainstream media. One would expect that his woodshed moment is coming and that a retraction will be issued soon."

Ok, here's Rollins' "correction":

Michele Bachmann adviser Ed Rollins' response to the sharp criticisms from Sarah Palin's world just now was to "let it go."

But he didn't go quietly, telling me, "I haven't lived in Washington D.C. in 15 years, and I've been taken to the woodshed by the big boys."

"As far as we're concerned, it's not" an ongoing fight, he insisted. "This was my one comment, which I shouldn't have made, at the end of the day this has nothing to do with Michele, Michele's campaign, or any of the rest of it. This was my transition from being an analyst to a political strategist, and I missed a step."

..."What's the retraction? I say she's serious?"

You see, Palin is so hypersensitive to anything anyone says about her in a negative light, she has to lash out, whether she does it personally or those hired by her do it. She just can't take Rollins' advice and "let it go." And it makes her look all the more petty and vindictive; not a couple of attributes becoming of a possible presidential candidate.

And good for Rollins in making a perfectly thought out statement. It wasn't an apology, nor was it a retraction, just a "maybe I shouldn't have said it" moment, but never taking back what he did say. But if Sarah is this thin-skinned now, what's going to happen if she decides to join the campaign trail? She'll never make it out of New Hampshire.

The rapture is coming...

POSTED BY JHW22

... and I don't mean the Biblical one.

I am more confident that Sarah Palin is going to announce her candidacy on Saturday -- the calculated day of judgment.

And although I agree with this don't sell her short take by PoliticsUSA, I still stand by my conclusion that she doesn't *want* to be President because she doesn't want to have to make decisions; she wants to make money. Otherwise, she wouldn't have left her last elected position half-way through.

But PoliticsUSA nails the complexity of Palin on the head. People who say we should just ignore her or people who say let her run, ignorantly make assumptions that are not worth risking, in my opinion. I have a deep resentment for Sarah Palin because of what she created during the '08 campaign. I still remember, with a great deal of fear and resentment, how she enabled and validated the worst of our stupid, racist, xenophobic, vengeful Americans and gave them a power they hadn't had in quite some time. She gave permission for people to speak about Obama as if he would be the worst person for President based on shallow-minded guilt by association, declarations of otherness, allowances to actually consider bringing guns to rallies, and to hate an entire religion the President isn't even part of.

In her actions, she also brought out my own hate. As much as my son and I try to avoid that word, I cannot find another way to describe my feelings for her. She created a monster in society in people like me as well as in people with a fear of a smart black man who had the potential to change America for the better. They wanted desperately to hate a person who is good so they believed lies and distortions. I hate Palin because I am smart enough to know that her form of manipulation is bad for America. The falsehoods that Obama is bad for America are easily debunked time and again. But the reality that Palin has contributed NOTHING to the discourse that is correct, insightful, inspiring of progress, or even beneficial to families with special needs children, is in no way disputable. You can't compare the results of the man she wants America to fear and hate to her work. She is in the negative column for results and if she gets a chance to run, she will not add anything for the nation to consider as viable options for results. Instead she will campaign on vitriol and lack of ideas.

And a part of America wants to feed on that.

I want her off the stage. I want her to go home and never be seen or heard from again. But that ain't gonna happen. She wants to be heard and ignoring her will NOT make her go away. Ignoring her makes her more desperate for attention.

Laughing her off as the perfect opponent to Obama because he'd wipe the floor with her shamefully ignores that she will do great damage along the way AND we will lack the benefit of a true, smart and beneficial dialogue between two reasonable candidates.

As a liberal, I get annoyed when fellow liberals want the 2012 campaign to be easy: Obama vs. a Loser. I don't. I want our country to have the two best options to choose from. I want the campaign to be hard because the debate is complex, not because we're fighting off crazy birther and racist and hateful crap.

I want America to be better. And it will not be better with Palin in any way. But I know she will insist on being part of the show.

So liberals need to wake up and start dealing with her. Quit brushing her off. Quit dismissing her as irrelevant. Because, like it or not, accept it or not, she IS relevant. She is as relevant as cancer. It's a hated reality that can't be ignored.

She's Gonna Run, But Not To Win

POSTED BY JHW22

I have said all along that Sarah Palin will run for President. I have never believed she really wants to be President but she knows that the further down the road she gets, the more money she'll make. This article makes me think she is settling in for as long as possible.

I suspect most Republicans are holding off on their announcements to force her hand. She has said she will only run if other worthy candidates don't. We're watching a game of chicken here and I think the change in her foreign policy messaging means she'll announce soon.

In fact, I think she'll announce on May 21, when some think the world is going to end -- and then on May 22, she'll regret her decision when we're all still here.

This Guy Wants To Be President

For the last couple of weeks I've been watching the mainstream media give more and more time to the preposterous idea that Donald Trump is a legitimate contender for the Republican nomination for President. I couldn't turn on a cable news channel or broadcast news channel for that matter without seeing Trump's face demanding he be taken seriously while spouting debunked birther conspiracy theories whenever he opened his mouth. I would look at him and my first thought wasn't, "This guy would make a great president" so much as "I wonder what his hair looks like when he gets out of the shower." I don't think "Trump would be an awesome president." I think "A Trump presidency would be a national embarrassment."

And now we get to see how thin-skinned The Donald actually is courtesy of New York Times columnist Gail Collins. Last week, Collins decided to turn in a column deriding Trump for his headline grabbing ways, out-crazying the wingnut contenders by stealing the keys and taking a joyride in the Birther bandwagon. He insists on making his case with three year old debunked theories on the Kenyan-born, possibly Muslim, birth certificateless, Manchurian candidate President.  He's made his main talking point that this fake controversy is "the greatest scam in history." It doesn't matter that all these theories have been proven false. He's got people investigating and "they cannot believe what they’re finding." No details, of course, they just can't believe it. Maybe they can't believe their good fortune in being paid handsomely by Trump to investigate something that has been thoroughly exhausted; something that the Clinton campaign machine and the McCain campaign Edsel couldn't find. Something that can easily be Googled. Or maybe Orly Taitz is giving him legal advice while cleaning his teeth.

But the Collins opinion was just too much for Trump to bear, so he wrote a letter to the editor. A letter, that while insulting Collins for her "storytelling ability," sounds like it was written by a marginal high school student trying to sound smarter than he is. He then goes on to restate the whole birther nonsense, sticking to his guns, refusing to believe anyone or anything that proves the opposite.

Collins of course had to respond with a rebuttal today including other crazy shit Trump has said these last few weeks, like it was Bill Ayers who actually wrote "Dreams From My Father" or that people who went to school with Obama never saw him. She goes on to once again disprove the ridiculous statements, but no matter. At this point, Trump is all in and nothing anyone says can make him think any different. ...Maybe that's how he bankrupted his casinos.

But here's the thing: if a New York Times opinion columnist gets him so easily riled that he feels the need to write a letter, how is he going to react to the constant ridicule from primary challengers and media personnel during the campaign? You can see how upset he gets when someone disagrees with him, how emotional he becomes when he feels he's being interrupted (see the Meredith Vieira interview). How is he going to survive a year long campaign with that short hair trigger when Howard Dean was drummed out of the Democratic race in '04 for displaying his excitement after the Iowa primary results?

But I suppose Trump doesn't have to worry about that, because there's no way he'll run. There's no way he'll want to be viewed under a microscope with such scrutiny. This whole thing is a ratings ploy for his reality show, nothing more. And the fact that Republicans rate Trump second in a favorability poll combined with the antics of the fractured House majority being run by Tea Party freshmen reveals the sad state of the Republican party.

Extraordinary For All the Wrong Reasons

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is slated to deliver a "testimony of faith" at a religious conference in Lynchburg, Va. this fall, which will be broadcast in more than 1,000 churches nationwide.

The Extraordinary Women Conference will take place at Liberty University on Oct. 7-8, dates that Politico notes fall on the same week Republican presidential candidates are expected to meet in Minnesota for the Midwest Leadership Conference, an event put on by the state's GOP...

...Liberty University chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. wrote in an email to the Lynchburg News & Advance that the institution was "honored to host (the conference) and to welcome Governor Sarah Palin to our campus."

Continued Falwell: "Governor Palin is greatly admired by our Liberty University faculty, staff and students for her patriotism and her determination to stand up for what is right despite vicious and unrelenting attacks against her and her family."

Oh, she's extraordinary alright. Extraordinarily divisive, extraordinarily moronic, extraordinarily petty...

Events like these and the people who run them, the people who are invited to them, and the people who speak at them are one of the main reasons I question organized religion in general. But there's always a silver lining because it looks like Sister Sarah isn't going to be running for President after all - just lobbing bombs from the sidelines as usual.

I wonder if she's going to receive her $100,000 speaking fee for her "testimony of faith"? Or maybe she'll just get a witch doctor to shake his rattle. And heaven help them if they forget her bendy straws!

Alan Grayson Fighting Back

A liberal pit bull AND a sense of humor! But seriously, there's something about supporting Grayson that's a little exciting knowing that the likes of Sarah Palin and the Michael Steele led RNC are gunning for him. Donate here.

Adding... Watching that video took me back to nightmares of the Bush years. I didn't remember how much of a revulsion I had to the former president to the point that even an impersonator brought it back.

Thanks, But No Thanks On That Campaigning Offer

HuffPo: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she's not only staying involved in national politics, but she plans to jump back into the national scrum when she leaves office at the end of the month.

The former Republican vice presidential nominee said she plans to write a book, campaign for political candidates from coast to coast - even Democrats who share her views on limited government, national defense and energy independence - and build a right-of-center coalition.

"I will go around the country on behalf of candidates who believe in the right things, regardless of their party label or affiliation," she said during an interview published Sunday in The Washington Times.

So that's her plan! Destroying the Democratic Party from the inside like a termite. What politician in their right mind, would want Palin anywhere near their campaign? Before you answer that question, remember that the operative words are "in their right mind."

Jeb Bush Not Running

Jeb Bush has released a statement saying that he will NOT run for the Florida Senate seat to be vacated by retiring Senator Mel Martinez in 2010. Statement to follow.

UPDATE (4:31pm): Jeb Bush: "While the opportunity to serve my state and country during these turbulent and dynamic times is compelling, now is not the right time to return to elected office."

That would be code for, "George has so fucked up the Republican Party and the Bush name, to the point of Viriginia and Indiana going BLUE for fuck's sake, there would be no point for me to make an ass out of myself and become the only Bush to lose an election after my dumbass of a brother sat in the Oval Office for eight years wondering how they constructed curved walls."

The Audacity of Erraticism

How is it that someone can demand respect for one's opponent and then say they're going to kick their opponent's ass in the same breath? And yet, that is exactly what John McCain did this past Sunday.

"After I whip his you-know-what in this debate, we're going to be going out 24/7... I want to emphasize again, I respect Senator Obama. We will conduct a respectful race, and we will make sure that everybody else does, too."

What the fuck is going on? The post traumatic stress disorder has finally gotten the better of ol' Johnny Maverick. I'm not even going to attempt to call his comment veiled racism because he used the word, "whip." That's neither here nor there because what I found appalling was the response from the McCain campaign regarding the John Lewis "controversy."

After a few days of intense negativity from McCain and Palin to the point of inciting hate-filled ourbursts from audience member in their rallies, Rep. John Lewis of Georgia said the following:

McCain and running mate Sarah Palin were "sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse." He noted that Wallace also ran for president. "George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights... As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all. They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better."

Of course the McCain campaign was outraged at such statements, and challenged Barack Obama to repudiate Lewis' statements. as if Obama had anything to do with it.

"Congressman John Lewis' comments represent a character attack against Governor Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale. The notion that legitimate criticism of Senator Obama's record and positions could be compared to Governor George Wallace, his segregationist policies and the violence he provoked is unacceptable and has no place in this campaign. I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character and the character of the thousands of hardworking Americans who come to our events to cheer for the kind of reform that will put America on the right track.
I call on Senator Obama to immediately and personally repudiate these outrageous and divisive comments that are so clearly designed to shut down debate 24 days before the election. Our country must return to the important debate about the path forward for America."

Now, call me cynical, but taking John Lewis' history as a civil rghts leader into account, I'm going to have to side with him on this one over the objections of McErratic.

It was obvious that Lewis was not comparing McCain to Wallace directly, but rather in the way he was raising the hackles of his audience with fear mongering, guilt by association and tone. And although McCain tried to tone down the nasty nature of his followers, the smear ads and surrogates continue to fan the flames, attempting to keep McCain above the fray, but failing.

Lewis later added this statement to avoid any confusion:

"My statement was a reminder to all Americans that toxic language can lead to destructive behavior," he said. "I am glad that Sen. McCain has taken some steps to correct divisive speech at his rallies. I believe we need to return to civil discourse in this election about the pressing economic issues that are affecting our nation."

But McCain wanted a statement from the Obama campaign, and he got one.

"John Lewis was right to condemn some of the hateful rhetoric that John McCain himself personally rebuked just last night, as well as the baseless and profoundly irresponsible charges from his own running mate that the Democratic nominee for president of the United States 'pals around with terrorists,"' Burton said in a statement.

And just as a side note, McCain was touting John Lewis during the Saddleback Forum of a few weeks ago as one of three "wise men" that he consults on a regular basis. Another lie.

So on the one hand, McCain considers Lewis a "wise man" he would look to for advice, but when confronted by Lewis with a dangerous situation of his own making, he's another Obama surrogate just slinging mud. Just sayin'.

O-BAM!-A