Mitt Romney and Bill Bain in 1990
I see Romney’s campaign released a poster today (copied from a 1970’s campaign by Margaret friggin’ Thatcher) attacking the President’s jobs record …. oh Mitt, do you really want to go there?
New York Post (February 2011): ….Mitt Romney has been saying he is the man to get Americans back to work … However, the former private equity firm chief’s fortune – which has funded his political ambitions – was made on the backs of companies that ultimately collapsed, putting thousands of ordinary Americans out on the street.
That truth, if it becomes widely known, could become costly to Romney who told CNN’s Piers Morgan that “People in America want to know who can get 15 million people back to work,” implying he was that person.
Romney’s private equity firm, Bain Capital, bought companies and often increased short-term earnings so those businesses could then borrow enormous amounts of money. That borrowed money was used to pay Bain dividends. Then those businesses needed to maintain that high level of earnings to pay their debts.
….Bain and Goldman Sachs, for example, put $85 million down in a $415 million 1994 leveraged buyout of Baxter International’s medical testing division (renamed Dade Behring), which sold machines and reagents to labs … In August 2002, Dade filed for bankruptcy.
This was not an isolated case.
* Bain in 1988 put $5 million down to buy Stage Stores, and in the mid-’90s took it public, collecting $100 million from stock offerings. Stage filed for bankruptcy in 2000.
* Bain in 1992 bought American Pad & Paper (AMPAD), investing $5 million, and collected $100 million from dividends. The business filed for bankruptcy in 2000.
* Bain in 1993 invested $60 million when buying GS Industries, and received $65 million from dividends. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
* Bain in 1997 invested $46 million when buying Details, and made $93 million from stock offerings. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
Romney’s Bain invested 22 percent of the money it raised from 1987-95 in these five businesses, making a $578 million profit.
While I have not investigated all of Romney’s Bain investments and there may be cases where he made money and improved businesses, there’s little question he made a fortune from businesses he helped destroy.
Full article here
****
Marketwatch: …. Romney was the governor of Massachusetts from January 2003 to January 2007. And during that time, according to the U.S. Labor Department, the state ranked 47th in the entire country in jobs growth. Fourth from last.
The only ones that did worse? Ohio, Michigan and Louisiana. In other words, two rustbelt states and another that lost its biggest city to a hurricane.
The Massachusetts jobs growth over that period, a pitiful 0.9%, badly lagged other high-skill, high-wage, knowledge economy states like New York (2.7%), California (4.7%) and North Carolina (7.6%). The national average: More than 5%.
….In Romney’s first year in charge, Massachusetts ranked dead last in America in jobs growth. What makes this worse for Romney is that he actually ran on a jobs platform …. he promised the voters of Massachusetts that as governor he’d use his business savvy and connections to bring new jobs to the state.
Net result: 50th out of 50 after one year, 47th after four.
The Obama Diary 
Anchor Baby™ Mitt: Champion Job Killer!
…. Or should that be Professional Job Killer….
???
I can’t decide…
Go with Professional. He made money at it.
clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!!!
Exactly!
Professional it is!
Anchor Baby™ Mitt: PROFESSIONAL JOB KILLER
Maybe we should order some business cards for him…… 😉
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelly (sp) is reporting right now on POTUS at Carnegie Mellon and about manufacturing jobs and training in Cleveland. Positive News Reporting.
Scott Pelly seems to be interested in doing actual journalism. I’ve started watching him recently.
I watched him on Thursday and I have to say, as a college student who normally gets my news online and on other avenues, it was quite nice to just watch actual reporting of the news without any opinions.
This is the type of facts/information that needs to go viral about Mitt. I’m emailing it to family and friends. They can read and make informed decisions. Thanks Chipsticks – keep up the good work!!
This info needs it’s own You Tube video with doom and gloom music playing in the background while this info scrolled down the screen………..Romney The Grim Reaper of American Jobs.
Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum…….Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum Dum
So it’s just that easy, if we are to believe good old Mitt. Only good old Mitt can put 15 million people back to work. Okay, how will he do that? Let’s hear some facts from Mitt. Where is the facts? I don’t want to hear the talk, but how will Mitt Romney put 15 million back to work?
Since The Obamadiary is becoming such a hit on You tube I wish Chips could put something together on Mittens and have it go viral just as the Baby Whisperer.
Ditto!!
Guy’s a joke.
looks like Don Draper and a younger Mr. Burns
He may be like Don Draper in that he has a despicable past that he’s trying to run away from by changing his identity but Don Draper is actually a very smart guy. Mitt, not so much. He looks like a deer in headlights in this photo!
Let Mitt go there. We have the numbers. Can’t wait to hear him try to talk his stiff walking self out of this one. He makes me tired just watching him walk across the stage. Who wants a President that uptight? Heck no.
HZ – are you saying Mitt got no swagger??? LOL!!!!
Yes, GGail. I just came back on. Cannot stand the likes of such one.
Poor Mittens 😦
He really does look like he needs to sign up for Toastmasters once again. Ridiculous.
This news article is coming from the New York Post! A paper that’s certainly no friend to liberals. They must be really sick of Romney and his “I can create jobs and heal the economy meme.” He’s such a phoney and a souless, greedy corporate pig feeding on the hog. He should be ashamed of his jobs records in the private and government sector. I hope the repubs in the repub primary use this news to sink him and if they don’t I hope the dems and President Obama’s team bury him with this info.
On a different note: NY senate passes same-sex marriage bill!
And forgive me, but they have made it very hard for me to care at this point. And on Twitter they are saying that Rachel is lying on the President, saying he is against this. Huh? I am so sick of her. Now she and her ilk like Choi will take every oppt. to bash the President over this.
Good for them…….
I just read on Twitter that Maddow said the President was against what just happened…….unbelievable…
Oh, and she’s singing the republicans’ who voted for the bill praises. I’m really starting to think she is no progressive, but a closet repub.
I would like to know why they are trying to force PBO say that he is for same sex marriage? What is gained if PBO says that he is for same sex marriage? If he says that he is for same sex marriage what will they whine about next?
He didn’t say it fast enough. Or with enough passion. Or he really isn’t for it, he’s just saying he is for political reasons. Or……
Rachel must have been smoking some messed up crack with the way she has gone off the rails. Really? President Obama is against what happened in New York? Yeah…. so thats why he fought valiantly to repeal DADT, that’s why he ordered his DOJ to stop defending DOMA as section 3 rendered DOMA unconstitutional. That’s why he’s providing gay federal employees the same benefits that their heterosexual counterparts enjoy. That’s why he signed a resolutions deeming June as Pride Month and why he and Michelle are going to be holding a reception next week in the White House celebrating and honoring the LGBT community. That’s why he ordered all hospitals receiving medicare and medicaid benefits to stop barring gay men and women from visiting their partners. if this is a sign that he’s unhappy with what occurred in New York then thank you President Obama; your unhappiness fills all our hearts with joy.
As for Rachel? Go chug some expired milk.
Someone from the White House need to call her and set her straight.
That’s our job. Phone, email, tweet, yell, protest. We are the “someone”.
I did Tweet her. A lot of folks are reacting on Twitter.
Obviously she doesn’t read our e-mails or your tweets or else from what I’ve heard from you guys, she wouldn’t still be bashing the president. Or maybe she thinks she’s become so popular that a few however many of us who have been calling her out don’t count. 🙄 I’m still calling for a national boycotting of the MSM. We can do it guys we just have to spread the word and and choose a day and time to start.
Bill maher saying that the president has not done anything progressive and that his base will not show uP in 2012!
Are they going to start this shit again???
I am so sick of Bill Maher and this bunch. I can’t bring muself to watch him anymore.
He’s a jealous jerk. One week he’s praising the President, the next he’s saying crap like this. Who cares what he says? And PBO won in 08 without the support of idiots like him. We are the ones who walked the streets, signed up new voters, etc. I have a training session with OFA tomorrow and I can’t wait to get started so we can deliver for PBO again.
The problem is that these guys don’t hang around the real base. they hang around people in their field and only hear the same talking points repeatedly. That’s how they get sucked in to this garbage.
Jovie, he always talks from his behind. What has he done for the gay community lately. Shut the Hell up, I say to him. They better lay off of my President. I am PTHO now.
PTHO……… sorry, I’m really bad with the lingo
Hey Lisa I think PTHO means Pissed The Hell Off. HZ’s got some spunk in her tonight. 😀
Me? I’m all pissed out. I’m banking on Karma for this one.
Who appointed these people the spokepersons for the base, the real base?
I saw Rachel say on national TV that the President is against what just happened in Newyork and mocked him for the money he collected from the Gays and I almost broke into tears. Imagine how many people who have no idea what PBO has done for the Gay community that heard Rachel say that. I am done, this time I freakin mean it. I am done with that scumbag Rachel Maddow. U can hurt me once, twice but three time, Hell to the Freakin No MoRE RAcHEL MADDOW ON MY TV SCREEN.
Me4Obama, I had to turn that wench off. She’s flat out lied. Lied!!!!! She has to be a closet republican to be able to lie that easily. I really can’t stand her.
POB, any one who was watching her tonight thought it’s all the Republicans that voted for the bill. I swear I have been looking forward to this day for gay marriage equality in Newyork but that b**ch and choi and all the PL ruined it for me. Her inner Republican came out of the closet tonight and it was the last straw for me and I truly believe she HATES the President.
I do too, Me4Obama. She and Choi have made me totally numb on this issue. And her constant bashing of the President who has done more for gay Americans than any President is despicable. We must write and boycott her sponsors.
Proudofobama, something told me to take a nap and watch that pushy w…. Glad that I did.
and not watch, I meant to say.
People, people, don’t we have her contact info? Stop holding it in and spewing it here. We aren’t powerless!??!!!!
I have sent her several emails.
That shit had to be an ORDER from her supervisor!
Just throwing that crap in there, had nothing to do with that night in ny!
The pl is up to something, they all have the same talking points!!!!
I agree with you, Jovie.
Jovie you are so right. I was asking myself what does PBO have to do with this Historic night and why is she abusing him on National TV. Well I will never see her face and LIES on my TV. Done, done, done, done with her fake progressiveness. She is a radical left winger who doesn’t deserve my time anymore. Sorry my blood is boiling with anger.
they were setting it up so that if the bill failed Obama, NOT the people that voted against it, would get the blame. trust me. if the vote failed, the PL would have been all over Obama, give the Repubs a pass and make Cuomo their new hero.
I don’t think Rachel needed orders from above to do what she did. It was all her. She’s always been anti-Obama when it comes to these gay issues. It’s quite hurtful and ungrateful of her and her cohorts to spit in President Obama’s face when he put his presidency and the wars on the line to overturn DADT. They have not lifted a finger to help themselves overturn their grievances, but they’ve blamed President Obama for state driven issues that are not dictated at the federal level. The President didn’t create these problems, he’s been trying to solve them! The last straw is really giving the credit to Republicans, who have called homosexuals all sorts of vile names in the book – yet, they deserve more credit than President Obama in changing hearts and minds? It’s despicable.
Same reaction for me………….I am SICK and TIRED of those damn hypocrites……She is off my list for good…..all of them.
Jon Stewart, Maddow, Maher, O’Donnel…and all the rest of those scums.
They are millionaires……they don’t give a shit….
They have NO respect for the president…….it’s disgusting….
She us also stupid, no strategic sense. The president has done everything he can in his capacity for LGBTrights but had he come out in NY for marriage equality do you think this GOP senators would have changed their votes? Fat chance. Due to Obama Deeangement Syndrome if he is for something the GOP will oppose it, even if they have been for it in the past. Same as in Wisconsin: had he inserted himselfn the debate the WI union would have lost some support. Maddow just has no sense.
It actually just proves that these pundits like Rachel have no political astuteness at all. They don’t understand politics, and they don’t know what they’re talking about.
This is why I get more upset with O’Donnell because he knows better…but, after watching Rachel, Cenk and all the rest constantly moan and groan about Weiner for three weeks and then this week about same sex marriage rights, I will boycott msm.
I tell you I don’t watch Rachel anymore. I’m so fed up with people like her.
And Gov Cuomo is the new hero. Should run for president in 2016. Based on one issue. Funny, they didn’t mind him working with republicans on this. Correct me if I’m wrong, but NY isn’t the first state to pass marriage equality.
No, 2016 would be too late. Bet you he’s going to be the next flavor of the month tp primary PBO. If I knew how, I would create a video and work to make it viral, calling all these PLs a lie to their faces.
Oh my God, Africa! I was thinking about something like this at 5pm this evening. I was thinking how awesome it would be if we could create a web series and post it to Youtube that shows the PL as they really are. It would be in cartoon form (but I don’t know how to draw) and every couple days we could post the animation that took an inside look at Parasite Losers Inc, headed by their shady leaders the Maddcow and Olbertool and details everything we imagine the PL does like take secret Koch money to destroy the president. Any ideas we’ve ever had about what they do and what their real agenda’s are could be used, it would be in expose form, solely from what we imagine they talk about. It could show ongoing battles with the PL using the Repugs. An idea for an animation I had was a HUGH Goliath with GOP tattooed on his arm and behind him are Nutroots, PL and Koch brothers pushing and pushing to support GOP who is in a battle with PBO who is smaller and a chain of his supporters handing him stones for his slingshot and marked on each person’s shirt is a letter and as you go down the line of his supporters, it spells out OBAMABOTS. If I had any technical or artistic skill, this would be awesome. Though it would include some talk of Repugs, the series would be designed to shed light on the duplicitous nature of the PL. All our speculation about them would be placed right there for everyone to see. Their stupidity would be so obvious from the cartoon that it would go viral because people are really beginning to wonder about their motives. It would show a clear delineation between the true base and the big mouths. Oh my gosh, that would be so awesome! But all I have are story lines, no practical experience. I wish I was moderately talented when it comes to art 🙄
Iowa passed it a few years ago.
IOWA.
If they can get hate out of their hearts, you’d think the rest of us can.
Iowa didn’t pass it. It was a supreme court decision and some of those justices were voted out in 2010.
I guess Cuomo replaces Weiner.
I don’t think you will find Cuomo on TV trashing the President.
And PBO is hosting a freakin GAY PRIDE RECEPTION NEXT WEEK at the Whitehouse. What do they want from him????????????? If he came out in support of this bill maybe it would have failed because republicans hate his guts. Use your frakin Brain RACHeeeelllll if you still have one.
She doesn’t have a brain…and she is not a journalist. These outlets hired anybody, anybody who will follow their marching orders. Rachel is a fake and as far as I am concern, eny and everything that comes out of her mouth is “suspect” as far as I’m concerned.
I quit watching her show after the President’s election, but gave her another chance during the 2010 mid-term elections. Rachel goes off the deep end when she doesn’t agree totally with the President. She was doing okay until the Weiner issue, That angered her that the President said that Weinerh should resign. Then, when the President didn’t pull all the troops out of Afganistan, she was pissed. That is when I quit her again. Do not watch her. That is the only way they get the message is by their ratings dropping. I understand that she is gay and it is an important issue to her, but the President has done more for gay rights than any other President, period.
On another subject, how in God’s green earth can these candidates stand up and with a straight face claim that they will create jobs? How do you stand before the American people and justify the huge step backwards this country took during that last administration. This stuff just angers me no end.
X2
After the other day when she sounded like she was pissed because the president didn’t reveal the military playbook I took her off my to watch list.
From this moment on I will abstaining from all cable so-called news shows.
She is a very loud mouth person and if she does not get her way, she goes off on the President. Now, did the President call this witch? Hecky no. Shut up Rachel. She has been off of my tv for months now. Sick of her.
I’ve stopped all cable. Anything good gets linked. I look at BBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera online, blogs like Steve Benen, TPM, inspiration from TOD and TOAITR, and twitter which is a great source. Why listen to pundiots?
Rachel lost all credibility with me after she defended Weiner when he lied directly to her face, on her own show. This last stunt just hardens my resolve to not watch her show anymore. She does a lot of damage.
theo67, I am done with all of them…they don’t serve anybody but themselves and the conservative owned media.
The President never said Weiner should resign. He said if it was him in that pickle he would resign to work on healing his family…..Please look at the video of him being interviewed on the Today’s show.
I am done with Jon Stewart Too. Some poll came out last year naming him the most trusted name in news and he got all big headed, he is no longer funny to me. I AM OFFICIALLY ON TEAM COBERT. I regret wasting my time driving hours to that so called rally to restore sanity. So far, I fired KEITH from my TV screen because Al Gore insulted my President, I am done with Jon Stewart, and now Rachel Maddow.
I said that many times in the past…but came back and watched her show again…but this time she went too damn far…..the President is against what happened????….wtf is wrong with her…..I am so angry….
Never again……I’m done…
I was finished with Jon Stewart when he lured thousands of young people to Washington and told them that there were no difference in what republicans and democrats were doing. Then to top it off he didn’t even tell them to go out and vote.
A mother called into Stephanie Millier’s radio show upset that her daughter who attended the rally said that she wasn’t going to vote because both sides were the same.
I haven’t watched Jon Stewart since and will never watch him again. This last video that’s been making the rounds of him on Fox I refused to watch, because I knew in a day or two he would be singing a different tune.
You see these people like Stewart and Huffington are millionaires so they can afford to sit on the fence and throw shit at both sides because either way they lose nothing.
Jon stewart takes himself too seriously these days he is no longer funny. Have you watched Steven colbert lately? Please do, thursday’s show opening made me LMAO.
I watch Colbert show on the Web since it comes on after my bedtime during the week.
And they want to protect their tax breaks. They are not supporters of the poor and middle class.
Well. I’m glad it passed. I was watching Maher when the news broke. There may be some very loud obnoxious people who are finding fault with the President but I think most people know that he is more friendly to the gay community than any other President has been before.
I noticed that the audience doesn’t like it when Bill Maher criticizes PBO. It kind of falls flat. He doesn’t get a great reaction when he does that. Neither does Jon Stewart so I wonder why they even bother. I don’t watch Rachel very often. Sounds like she has got herself fixated on a false idea.
I’m not going to let the negativity of a few ruin what I think is a positive step toward equality. I am thinking of the young people who happen to be gay who’s lives will be improved because another step has been taken in the right direction. I’m happy for them. PBO always keeps his eye on the long game so I’m going to take a page out of his book and not let the whiners spoil a good thing.
Sanity, thy name is Walking on Sunshine! I support your stance. Well said!
Senator Gillibrand recently wrote that she thought PBO would come out in support of marriage equality in his second term. Why should he do so now and alienate many and stir up more opposition leading to defeat in 2012. GOP will repeal all LGBT progress to date including DADT.
I agree. The priority now should be PBO’s reelection. Loosing in 2012 would set back all the gains that have been made. We just can’t afford to let that happen. He will have much more freedom in the second term. I mean that related to a whole range of issues not just gay rights. But the gay community would be crazy not to support PBO because the alternative would be a disaster for them.
WoS you’re right about audience members on Real Time with Bill Maher and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart not liking it when the two hosts absurdly criticize President Obama. Their jokes against the President fall flat and the applauses are weak b/c the audience members know that it’s PBO not the repubs who is on their side and fighting for means to better their lives.
I’ll also follow your lead and congratulate New Yorkers who fought for the marriage equality bill and the congressmen who voted in favor of the bill. It’s a great moment in history that couldn’t have arrived a moment sooner.
On Twitter. Sam Stein on WH reaction to NY vote:
White House spokesperson: “The process in New York worked just as it should”
Also from Stein:
More from WH: “President has long believed that gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and legal protections as straight couples.”
🙂
Are they going to ask Mittens what he thinks of this Historic vote or Michelle Bachman? Waiting for the answer from the PL.
I would get a kick out of hearing Michelle Bachman’s reaction. I’m sure she’ll share her opinion whether she’s asked for it or not!
She’s completely homophobic and was caught once hiding in the bushes at the gay pride parade. (don’t ask why…we don’t know why). She’s very odd.
LOL! Maybe sister Batshit will come out soon, sounds like she was trying to see what she’s been missing 😆 😆
They do not listen to the President. He has stated this for a very long time now. Also, have they forgotten which party the Governor belongs to. Short memory. Even if he did get the bill passed, it will go down in history in Ny as a Democrate who was the Governor. Shut the heck up, Rachel. You would not even have a show , if BO had not won in 2008. Leave us alone.
I’m done with Rachel…just unfollowed her on Twitter and I won’t watch her show again until she apologizes. It does feel like the PL is up to something…David Schuster was hosting for Bill Press and basically calling PBO weak and saying he didn’t know how to negotiate. How, easily they forget that PBO rolled Boehner in that budget deal…guess it doesn’t fit their narrative.And frankly, Schuster has a lot of nerve…who would take advice from a man who was forced to apologize on air a couple of times and he was fired for filming a CNN pilot while on contract for MSNBC…smh
So true about Schuster. All of them, they’re just pundits. They don’t have the brains or the skills to be President or they would be president. So they need to shut up and quit trying to tell PBO how to do his job.
Schuster looked like a punk when he was suspended. He really cannot talk.
I’m going to unfollow Rachel too.
I’ve stopped listenening to most progressive talk radio also….I’m down to listening to just Randi Rhodes
The same-sex marriage bill was approved on a 33-to-29 vote, as 4 Republican state senators joined 29 Democrats in voting for the bill and 1 democrate voting agaist it.
Cuomo made this his top priority this year and sent his top aide to meet with the Gay organizations in New York who last year were quarreling and disorganized. They really pushed matters to all members of the Legislature with postcards 1000’s at a time, phone calls and TV spots with athletes, entertainers and ordinary citizens.
The states that allow gay marriages are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. . It is also legal in : the District of Columbia.
Well, the mess has worn me out. I’m going to bed. Night all.
One last thing, this Tweet from St. Roscoe is too funny:
Dan Choi still can’t get married in New York – He doesn’t pass the sufficient mental capacity standard.
Now, I am going to bed.
hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! So true POB! 😆 😆
I’m starting to believe neither does Rachel Maddow pass the mental capacity standard.
You know what really get me angry with people like the likes of those who have already been named: They forget the bigger and longterm picture in matters like this. How long have we been fighting for equal opportunity for people to love as they please and get the same rights as other married couples. Regardless, the young people who can sigh with a relief tonight in NY can be who they want to be. Why lay the blame that they could not because of the President? Another haters department laid out for our President tonight by the MSM. Have they been hosting or hiring the wonderful people? Have they given up capital in their careers to fight squarely and allow the constitutions of the states to be fully executed? President Obama is the President of the United States and everything does not fall at his feet. Oh, and have these empty suits and pants taken notice that President Obama has had to eat s…. from the day he was sworn into office. The Chief Justice(trying to act smart and cute) mess the heck out of the oath. (No one can tell me that that man did not know that oath for memory. And I do not care where he graduated in his law class. Our President had knew it . that look on his face gave it all to us. These fools are getting on my last nerve. So full of themselves. Most of them need to go sit down, shut the heck up and leave us alone. They will not divide us. As for most of them,. I never believed they were for this President in the first place. I feel for all of them, because after he leaves office in 2017, none of them will have these shows. These are mean, short-sighted people who have issues that they need to deal with that are pretty ugly. Just listen to them, and look at the expressions on their faces when they are bashing this President. The hell with all of them. I am happy for the people in NY. Now piss off the rest of them.
The best way to deal with rachel is to stop watching her show. we must commit to not watching any of these people
I’m down with that pledge!
I pledge also. Didn’t watch her today or any other day, even if she apologizes. She’s apologized before and look at her now. As someone else once said: BOYCOTT THE MEDIA, THEY HATE OUR PRESIDENT. Is there anyway to spread the word? I can email and go on pro Michelle and PBO sites and tell people to start the boycott, but I’m not on twitter or facebook.
Count me in…the only purpose is to piss us off. They aren’t real journalist, they know nothing about reporting the facts without interjecting their own personal viewpoints. After tonight I am done for real.
A person who has the best interest for the USA would not withhold this information of creating jibs. They would not wait to share this information just because they are running for elected office. They would do so now. They are counting on public to remain ignorant of their lies.
What amazes me is that in the era of the Internet and other media these folk who seeks higher office think that their past behavior will remain hidden. They don’t care because they think that they are entitle with their flawed past. If President Obama can be elected surely they are entitled as well. In their feeble minds. Just take a look at the caliber of candidates who are trying to run. Most of them are already defeated before they actually become a candidate. A bunch of fear mongering, lying, trickster, scheming, pompous azzs, the republicans void of any helpful ideas because they hate most Americans. Can’t love nobody not even themselves because they have sold their hearts and minds to devil. And those PL so full of envy, self centeredness, strife and jealousy cut off their own nose to spite their face. How sad and pathetic. We need a unified effort to counter this nonsense when Presudent Obana is working triple overtime for the good of ALL of us Democrats, Indelendents, and Republicans.
If the LBGT community did not believe in the President in large numbers they would buy tickets to his events and want tickets to hear or see him at the Whitehouse. I think if a small minority of LBGT people dislike the President that’s okay because as he says a democracy is always messy, so we will all never agree on the same issues. But all smart clear thinking Americans are aware of the progress made in 2.75 years. The LBGT community if it wants more rights must do the work in every state just like any other group.
Good morning, I know I’m Johnny come lately, but I just want to say, how I’ve read all the comments here, and of course I share the same feelings most of you have. It just amazes me, how people like Mitt has the adacity to run for President with a history of being In the JOB KILLING BUSINESS. Is he CRAZY? What is wrong with people who have a history of negative baggage, and expects us to vote for them. Are they CRAZY? The nerve of Newt to think that he or the Rethugs can go Into AA neighborhoods, and CON us into voting Rethuglican. Are they CRAZY? The nerve of Rethugs wanna give the rich a tax break, as If they need It, when a lot of Americans are going hungry, homeless, and jobless. Are they CRAZY? What’s wrong with these People? It’s a dog eat dog world, and only GOD In heaven, can deliver us outta this mess. Lord help us all, In your prescious name.
While we’re talking about the PL and their contradictory tactics, I have a couple of thoughts. Firstly, we have to remember that show hosts are really glorified salesmen. Their ratings determine just how lucrative their contracts will be when they are renegotiated and their bosses depend on profits as a measure of competence. So, while I can’t know right now what msnbc is trying to do, it does appear that they are pretty sure of their base audience and are now trying to lure a more conservative audience to improve its ratings. Another factor for show hosts is their ratings determine their advertising dollars and that, too, is directly related to the size of each host’s contract and the overall profitability of the corporation and a show’s success. We won’t see any liberal voices if those dollars dry up from our shutting off and tuning out. (See what happened to Glenn Beck when his advertising dried up.)
Secondly, this move by the PL, if temporary, could be beneficial in the long term by attracting conservative viewers and then exposing them to liberal thought and discussion and facts they would not see on FOX.
And then, I have a different view of what the PL is trying to do. Sadly, they don’t understand how to play the game. Remember when FDR told his supporters, I agree with you….now go out and make me do it? Well, I think the PL has been trying to make the President “do it”.
What they have done is try to have the same influence on the Democratic Party as the T-party has had on the Republican Party. By challenging less than pure democrats they have been pushing for less political diversity and more liberal policies.
Where they are failing is you don’t get this kind of immediate coordination without decades of preparatory work. The GOP deserves credit for setting the stage for two decades of conservatism. The PL should be setting the stage for a shift to more liberal thought by changing the hearts and minds of America with both constant messaging and positive re-enforcement. But, they have undermined the positive message of the President in their attacks on him. The GOP never took on their own. It was always the denigration of the opposition, never their same party.
I hope that what msnbc comes to realize is that regular viewers like me, will not tolerate a political agenda that relies on lying about the issues. I will and can tolerate a positive spin on a story, but I will not tolerate false information. It was 14 years ago that I shut off FOX for good, even though at the time I didn’t know why they weren’t reporting the truth, I knew I wasn’t getting accurate information and was wasting my time. I think I had to be the first person in the country to have noticed. It would be several years before I would learn that a news organization not only had a political agenda, but was also a perpetual campaign ad for the GOP.
And, my final thought….I am sympathetic to a corporation’s need to profit, but I will not tolerate any behavior that undermines my desire for a fairer and more just country. I think rather than turning off and closing out the PL voices, we need to teach them how to construct positive messaging while still making their case for a particular issue. So, I hope I’ve made my case for why we should and how we can continue to engage them by using positive re-enforcement tactics on them when they write positive articles or when they air positive news segments. I wonder what would happen if they got more clicks and more e-mails from positive articles and news segments about the administration than negative ones. I think it’s worth trying.
Thanks for this commentary Karen. Like you, I am not for boycotting liberal stations like MSNBC. They may be douchebags on occasion but sometimes they do advance the cause. If we boycott them, they lose advertisements and we in turn lose a media outlet that we can spread our message. Conservatives don’t boycott their own, they instead challenge them to represent more wrong views (in my opinion). The one thing conservatives have that democrats and the PL can’t seem to get together is a consistent message. They didn’t go after President Bush, they went on the attack on everyone else and were able to ram agenda after agenda down our throats. Dems have a better agenda but they’re to chicken shit to reroute their political machinery in the right direction. I too will not tolerate anything but the best reporting with proper fact finding and truth. So I will continue to watch these shows and read articles from the PL and other avenues because KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. If we shut ourselves off from what they’re constantly peddling then we do a disservice to ourselves and to others who are not as politically savvy as we are. We do a disservice in that when we cut off those newstreams we can’t flood them with tweets, emails and calls that voice our displeasure over their failure to adhere to a high standard of journalistic integrity. We should instead continue to inundate them as we have been doing because one tweet, one email, one call at a time will defintely alert them to their pissing off a powerful consumer group and hopefully change the dialogue. The ones we should boycott are those who advance the disgusting right wing agenda through news and advertisements because with the vast amount of financial backing they possess, they are way more dangerous. Take American Crossroads (Karl Rove’s group) for example and their vow to raise $120 million to flood the airwaves with negative ads of President Obama in all 50 states in 2012. We should endeavor to find their financial backers, flood them with emails, calls, and tweets and alert the media so they can report on such underhanded foul sportsmanship.
Karen, I completely agree. While they piss me off, and last night, my hair was on fire….. burning bridges is always bad.
I’m for lifting the bar, and taking the high road. They can always come join us on it.
😀
I read the comments here all the time, and I really enjoy it. I have some thoughts on this matter. Even if the President does not believe in same sex marriage so what. I don’t believe in same sex marriage. But I would never do anything to prevent it, and I would respect their right to do so. We can not believe in something personally, but understand that there are others who have a difference of opinion. Isn’t that what democracy is all about. People differ but are respectiful of others beliefs. Rachel is so full of hate it makes you wonder why. Could it be that she doesn’t feel good about who she is and has to make someone else the villian. The same thing applies to choi, he left the military because he wanted to leave. He joined knowing that there was such a thing as dodt and he stayed for a number of years. Who is the weak one. You join an organization knowing that you will be discriminated against and then you complain when you are. Now he has no excuse not to reenlist. I bet he won’t even though he said he would. Rachel and the other PL thought the president would be like the republicans and cater to them. They have forgotten liberals are not stupid and do not follow one frame of thought. They are not hannaity, beck or limbaugh and we are not the teaparty. They will not hold this president or the democratic party hostage. If they don’t like it then don’t vote for the president or his party thats their right.