Wednesday, August 08, 2012

Randi Rhodes and the Campaign Ad Wars

Today on the Randi Rhodes show she reviewed all four of the leading Romney ads against the President and now all four of them are patently false.  We first had the John Mc Cain quote taken completely out of context where the President is heard to say "If we keep talking about this economy we will lose".  Add number two is the one about the President saying "The Private Sector is doing Fine".  We know what the President meant.  He meant to say that the private sector has had impressive growth during all but the first couple of months of the Obama administration- - particularly corporate profits and the stock market.   Job Growth has climbed steadily month after month.  The third Romney add was the President saying "You didn't build that!" referring to roads and infrastructure and favorable tax laws and fire and police and security and all.  Now we have a new Romney add.  Apparently, according to the ad, President Obama last July 12th "quietly ended the work requirement in the Clinton welfare reform law passed in 1996".  The truth is that two states at least, Nevada and Utah, asked for more state autonomy and flexability in implementing the Welfare law to insure maximum compliance and all that.  And keep in mind there is a lifetime five year limit on Welfare.  But all Mitt Romney could conclude is that "The President is abandoming the work ethic for welfare bums".  But what about Mitt Romney's values and "work ethic".  Would it comply with traditional Puritan values to hire a bunch of lawyers and tax accountants- - to endeavor to get your property in La Jolla in California- the one with the elevator for his car-  - valued at only half the going market rate so as to pay only half the property taxes.  Doesn't the Puritan ethic dictate to be civic minded and pay your obligations gladly?  From a utilitarian stance- - how many of the poor and those in need of a doctor get money or get to see a doctor, with all of the money Romney spent on tax accountants?  And by the way let's end this talk about Mitt Romney having no idea how much he paid in taxes.  If he's honestly curious why doesn't he just release his taxes, and then we would all know how much he paid.  Romney told that ABC reporter, "I'll get back to you on that" but I don't think he ever followed up.  You know in some ways Mitt Romney is Obama's best weapon.  All Mitt Romney has to do is to get out there among the working poor and unemployed and let them ask him questions.  And like I say if Romney's smart he won't even allow the Presidential debates to take place.  But if they do go ahead, why not do as Randi suggests and have the candidates ask questions of each other and have no moderator per se but just someone there with a stop watch to insure that each candidate gets equal time talking.

Some statements are positively Daft - - .  Now conservative women are telling their "sisters" to just get married to a good man, preferably rich, and then "retire" and spend the next twenty years barefoot and pregnent.  Don't work in gainful employment and don't make waves.  There was one caller today on the Randi Rhodes show who stated that the NY Times is a liberal newspaper.  Even though Dick Chaney used the NY Times to "plant" stories.  Judith Miller, an NY Times reporter, later went to work for FOX news because she was a Bush lackey at heart anyhow.  And Randi actually played the taped speech with Grover Norquist saying to a howeling crowd that "We don't need congressmen to write bills.  We can write them ourselves.  And we sure don't lead any qualities in our President such as leadership or independant thinking.  All we need is a President with enough working digits to sign all the bills we place before him.  It's one thing to read the quote- - it's another thing to actually hear the words coming right from the horses' mouth.  Of course we know that the corporate media has gotten increasingly right of center.  Like I say I've switched to NBC Nightly News because I can't hack the ABC news division any more.  The corporate media is strangely false on exposing any of these four campaign laws that are completely false.  And it's funny if the right wing nut jobs have been particularly busy that day throwing wild accusations- - the news headline that evening will be "The President is in deep political trouble from searious new charges laveled", and not say word one about the void of any credibility of the right wing nut jobs hurling the accusations.

President Obama has come back with an add of his one- - on Bain Capital.  They mentioned this one steel plant in Ohio where this guy had been employed in a good job for 23 years in a stable, well established company.  That's before Bain capital took over and sank the company.  Well, the man lost his job.  But the story doesn't end there.  Being a union man he had good health care and now neither he nor his wife has any.  His wife got employment in a much lower paying job, that appearently did not have health care.  At some point the wife began feeling sick.  She delayed in going to a doctor.  She then went to the emergency room in a crisis and was told she had stage four cancer and died twenty two days later.  The moral of the add was "This is what happens to employees that corporations let go".  But I take issue with Randi Rhodes on one thing.  This was not just your garden variety job loss.  It was deliberately engineered.  You know Judy was telling me months ago that she hates labor unions because "Any Christian employer will naturally see to the welfare of his workers and pay them a living wave".  Just how Christian is it that Romney would not for a moment consider the fates of all the people who lost their jobs as a direct result of his medelling?  That's not Christian.  Apparently Mitt when told of his case made one of the most politically Daft remarks I've heard in years.  His response was "Well, if he lived in Massachusetts he would have had Romney-care".  Is he serious?  I mean how is that for politically cutting your own throat.  Randi points out that one way to make this add even better is to say that "When the Affordable Health Care act falls into full effect- - this sort of life tragedy will never happen again".

I sometimes wonder about people like Bob Dylan and their take, as a Christian, on the tea party.  I can't for the life of me fathom Bob Dylan endorsing in any way a Romney presidency.  In the first place Bob Dylan is a devout spiritual Christian - - and Romney is a Mormon.  But the Christian credentials of the tea party as a whole are pretty weak.  Romney is a Mormon.  Ayan Rand is an Atheist.  Eric Cantor is Jewish.  Sheldon Addelson is sympathetic to the nation of Israel, or so he claims.  As far as Bob Dylan the past 35 years of his life have been pretty wasted as far as song lyrics are concerned.  So basically Bob Dylan had fifteen good years and 35 years of lean and highly pithy years.  As you know who might say, "Two out of three ain't good".  Those of you who haven't read the entry just below this I urge you to do that as soon as we're finished here.  The posting has had a couple of updates today, August 8th in the morning.  You know- - President Obama should really join a food fundamentalist congregation like the Vinyard - if they're still around.  But knowing the tea party they would hire people paying them hansomly for deliberately doing things to foment friction between the President and any newfound Church.  And no doubt the Tea Party would sponsor a "President Obama is a religious hypocrite" comittee.  If this sounds a little sick to you - - remember this is the Tea Party we are talking about and when has that ever stopped them before?  Every day there is some new revelatory news on Romney's latest political doings.  I don't see how come these stories can break like crashing ways day after day and not eventually take their toll on Romney.  There is one new poll that says Mitt Romney's negatives are now at 49% whereas he only gets a 40% positive rating.  That poll number does not augur well for his success.  I guess we'll all just have to stay tuned and see what is next.  Hopefully it's not an earthquake.  We've had two of them around here and neither one is what I could call "little".  They were both substantial jolts, and one only wonders whether they might be a harvenger of coming things.

No comments: