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NYT: A longtime aide to George W. Romney issued a harshly worded critique of Mitt Romney, accusing him of shifting political positions in “erratic and startling ways” and failing to live up to the distinguished record of his father, the former governor of Michigan.
Walter De Vries, who worked for the senior Mr. Romney throughout the 1960s, wrote that Mitt Romney’s bid for the White House was “a far cry from the kind of campaign and conduct, as a public servant, I saw during the seven years I worked in George Romney’s campaigns and served him as governor.”
“While it seems that Mitt would say and do anything to close a deal – or an election,” he wrote, “George Romney’s strength as a politician and public officeholder was his ability and determination to develop and hold consistent policy positions over his life.”
… “George would never have been seen with the likes of Sheldon Adelson or Donald Trump.”
… Mr. De Vries, who said he wished to the see the Republican Party return to its moderate roots, said he intended to vote for Mr. Obama on Election Day.
More here
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More at Business Insider
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Reuters: Retail sales rose in September as Americans stepped up purchases of everything from cars to electronics, a sign that consumer spending is driving faster economic growth.
…. expectations for third-quarter economic growth improved after the Commerce Department reported a 1.1 percent increase in retail sales during September.
The reading, which beat analysts’ forecasts, builds on other signs of growing economic momentum, including a drop in the jobless rate last month and a rise in consumer confidence.
“The news flow on the U.S. economy keeps getting better,” said Chris Williamson, an economist at Markit in London.
More here
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Greg Sargent: Everyone is linking to former Reagan budget director and private equity investor David Stockman’s brutal dissection in Newsweek of Mitt Romney’s claim that his Bain years have equipped him to be a job-creating juggernaut of a president:
…. Mitt Romney was not a businessman; he was a master financial speculator who bought, sold, flipped, and stripped businesses. He did not build enterprises the old-fashioned way — out of inspiration, perspiration, and a long slog in the free market fostering a new product, service, or process of production. Instead, he spent his 15 years raising debt in prodigious amounts on Wall Street so that Bain could purchase the pots and pans and castoffs of corporate America, leverage them to the hilt, gussy them up as reborn “roll-ups,” and then deliver them back to Wall Street for resale — the faster the better.
More here
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Katrina vanden Heuvel: At first glance, it might seem as if Mitt Romney’s path — from voting in the 1992 Democratic presidential primary to being the 2012 Republican presidential nominee – was linear. But over the past, winding, 20 years, Romney has held every possible view on every possible issue – often at the same time. When it comes to policy, he’s been downright promiscuous.
He was for a woman’s right to choose before he was against it. He was for tax cuts for the rich before he was against them. He was for – no, he wrote – health reform before he was against it … before he was for the parts that everybody liked.
This isn’t a platform – it’s a punchline.
Enough is enough …. at this point, Romney is just insulting Americans – our intelligence, our values, our democracy – with the campaign he is running.
Full article here
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The Obama Diary 
Good tweet, LL & your 1st!!!
Beware the photo you’re likely to get 😀 😀 😀
A picture of Wayne Rooney’s dirty shorts. 😦
Sheesh, as if I’d be that mean!
Hey Chips, in the tweet you posted for the thread, @ABCNews is the twitter handle for ABC in Australia. @ABC is the twitter handle for ABC News in America. There is no American @ABCNews.
Just a heads up.
Flip, ABC Australia will be wondering why @TomCinmidlife is so mad with them!
ABC is our public broadcaster – and they’ve had some pro Mitt reports recently – so give ’em hell – they deserve it. Every time they have on a right wing pundit from the US I send them protest emails.
yep, you can hear their right wing agenda through their cynacism.
You must have known, LL …. never, ever offer suggestions 😀 😀 😀
😆
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
BTW, everyone, UT has neat tweets on the Nickelodeon Q/A with PBO …
https://twitter.com/utaustinliberal
Aww….thanks Bob.
Yo, LL! I know I missed on first cause I was reading this stunning piece and sharing it on my FB page, as it is a wake up before it’s too damn late for all of us call! Excellent! Excellent! Otherwise, I would have had first for sure! Glad it’s yours! 🙂
🙂
Excellent tweet, LL! Democrats have a much better record of creating jobs than Republicans.
Still waiting for absentee ballots in Palm Beach County Florida.
Call OFA have them assist you. Or, you can go down and request a absentee ballot right now, fill it out and turn it in. At Supervisors of elections.
Jovie…this a Palm Beach County…not the whole state of Florida. There are misprints on the ballots….they said they are not going out until the end of the week….thousands requested. You cannot just go into the SOE office and request one when the data in the computer shows it has been mailed. OFA has nothing to do with this. Again, this is Palm Beach County…THE Palm Beach County…where votes get lost and ballots go missing.
This county went 61% for PBO in 2008.
Why can’t you absentee vote in person? Is that not allowed in Palm Beach county? Does the ballot have to be mailed?
That’s my question? Of course, OFA has a ton of lawyers, yes they could help you!
Proudmember it might be in your best interests to contact someone from OFA as Jovie is saying. You never know – they might very well have a better solution than just waiting for a ballot that never shows up.
PMG, It’s always a good idea to start making noises about things like this. Call your local paper and complain. If your county has a call in radio show, try dialing in with a complaint about this holdup. Just about any county has at least one Democrat in its governing body–county commissioner or whatever the local name is. Call that person and complain. By all means contact your local OFA office. They do have boatloads of lawyers primed to help. Every county has a Democratic Committee. Call the chairman and explain what’s happening. You have lots of tools on your side.
What a roundup! Thanks Chips!
YO!!!!
The date and time of the posts need to be accurate to 100ths of a second!!
Still catching up with today’s YouTubes. How special was John Glenn? His message was so heartfelt, and his voice was like butter — beautiful enunciation (I have a thing for enunciation, lol), and such a warm delivery. I hope that ad goes wide and far.
Top 10 again?
“Except Mitt Romney was not a businessman; he was a master financial speculator who bought, sold, flipped, and stripped businesses.” This is what ‘ve been TRYING to say for a long time (in a clumsy way ;>)). Willard was NEVER REALLY an honest business man or entrepreneur according to the American ethic. He was a high stakes financier and a predator.
Bob, I loved this criticism from DeVries. Willard has always tried to “best” his father, but he isn’t half the man his dad was. I’m very happy he was called out on this from someone who knows.
Chips, CNN reports Mrs. Clinton taking responsability for Benghazi.
This came up at the bottom of the last thread. As I said there, although I wouyld have voted for her if she had won the nomination in 2008, I can’t say I was evr all that impressed with Clinton. However, since she became Sos, my opinion of her has risen greatly. And this statement shows another reason to like her, even though I don’t think there really is blame to be placed except on those who perpetrated the attack.
How refreshing it would have been if Bush had come out in 2001 and said he accepts the blame for 9/11. He would have been far more respected.
That’s true.
Bravo, Japa! Like you my respect for SoS Hillary Clinton has grown immeasurably. By the way, I too would have voted for her if she had won the Democratic nomination in 2008.
Hopefully the Republicans will stop politicizing this issue, but I won’t hold my breath.
You know where CNN/Media is going with that narrative. That PBO forced her to take blame for his mess-up the night before the debate. Instead of Sensata, they will be focusing on this for the rest of week.
Wow, this is big. She’s probably not personally responsible, but there was a problem at State, or between the State Dept and CIA, who knows…
I believe Pres Obama and VP Biden when they say that they didn’t know about the problem. Secretary Clinton is doing a very honorable thing and is protecting President Obama politically to a certain degree. Because the media will focus on her. She’s done such a good job at the State Dept, dems have to have her back. It’s impossible for her to control everything. I hope she stays at the State dept. a little longer , maybe a year after the election. I don’t want her to leave on a sad note.
“and is protecting President Obama politically to a certain degree.”
Here you go, pushing the very MSM narrative that I spoke of in my comment above.
1. If this is “big” as you say, then what do you call 911 when 3000 people died due to Bush’s utter negligence?
2. How do you she’s protecting PBO politically? Don’t you know by now what anything that happens while Obama is President – he will be blamed for it, regardless of who accepts responsibility?
Thank you hopefruit2…
There’s so much sly crap thrown out there it’s incredible…
Hillary Clinton is the secretary of State, embassies operate under the auspices of the State department and ambassadors report to the Secretary of State…
She isn’t doing President Obama ‘a favor’ or ‘protecting’ him by taking responsibility…
It is her responsibility…
Hillary Clinton is a stand-up person. The GWB said “mistakes were made” but not my responsibility.
Bill, Hillary is that rare thing in the political world today. Like her boss and his VP, she is a person of honor.
Just saw on Ed’s show that Howard Fineman is saying Hillary taking full responsibility will just make the GOP want to go after him even harder and like he is ducking the responsibility. The MSNBC is again setting sky high expectations for PBO. I get uneasy for PBO. I know he is a great speaker but how do you debate a liar and weathervane.
” I know he is a great speaker but how do you debate a liar and weathervane.”
Your statement is the real question! But even more frustrating: is how do you convince the so called impartial judges (the media) to stop taking seriously a congenital liar who is so aggressive and blatant in the way he lies?
Will you look at that?
That there is one SWEET ride!
403 HP for pennies a day in fuel. THAT’S sexy.
Now i would like to see the MAN that drives that….HA!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama retained a slim lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the Reuters/Ipsos daily tracking poll on Monday, as he appeared to have stemmed the bleeding from his poor first debate.
Three weeks before the November 6 U.S. election, Obama leads Romney by 2 percentage points, with 47 percent support from likely voters in the national online poll, to 45 percent support for Romney.
The margin was small enough to be a virtual tie, but Obama’s slight edge broadened from Sunday, when he went ahead of Romney by 1 point after falling behind in the wake of Romney’s decisive victory in their first presidential debate on October 3.
“Romney received a bump from that first debate, but the very nature of a bump is it recedes again,” Ipsos vice president Julia Clark said. “We’re now seeing Obama regaining a little bit of a foothold as we go into the second debate. They go into the debate on equal footing.”
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSBRE89E1BH20121016?irpc=932
You know, Jovie, if the pundits were like the people in the “Don’t Be Fooled” video, nobody would be calling PBO’s debate performance ‘poor.’ They would be calling Willard’s carnival act “revealing.”
I am so sick and tired of these non-stop polls! What exactly are these polls trying to accomplish? I am thankful that I’ve never been polled. The way I am feeling right now, If any one of these pollsters called me to ask who I am voting for, I would emphatically tell him/her/it, that it’s none of his/hers/it’s business! To repeat: I am sick and tired of these relentless non-stop polls being pushed on us by the media. If these polls are correct, something is seriously wrong with a great many of the American people. How can I trust the wisdom of the majority of people, who change their views every second, to pick a genuinely good leader as President? Mitt Romney has been running for President for six years. President Obama has been President for four years and spent another two years before that running for president. Please tell me why honest and mature people have to change their views every nano second about these two men? I will say this for the last time: I am sick and tired of these non-stop polls that show one candidate ahead one day and then behind the next day. I have this sneaking suspicion that people being polled are playing games with these pollsters. I just don’t know that many people in real life who change their opinions every second, or every minute, of the day. But then again, there must be some people who are easily suggestible that they try to go with the trend. May be these are the people that these nonstop media polls are aimed at.
Evening Everyone!
Read about Ryan’s photo-op today. Jeebus Christ! Can’t even fake volunteering?! OY!
And he did those pots ‘n’ pans in his personal best time too!!!!
LOL! 🙂
Are you guys getting Twitter bird over capacity
I am Forus, everything’s slowed up for me, tweetin’ annoying.
Yep, #Sensata is bringing it to it’s knees 🙂
O/T: Do any of you know anything about the movie “Won’t Back Down”? This is what the ad in my paper says: “Sends a Valuable Message About U.S. Schools – And Unions…….Give This Flick An Oscar Now.” “The Movie’s Heroes Are Parents who Demand Better…..A Powerful Story of Hope and Change.” (WSJ) My husband wanted us to go see it this afternoon and I said “Yes.” It is showing at one theatre on our side of town; one showing a day and today through Thursday. Last night he tried to get tickets and they are sold old for all week. Would like some feedback if anyone here knows anything about it……has seen it, etc.
I’ve only seen ads, but I don’t trust the message. It really appears to be anti-teachers, and anti-unions. People need to realize that the professional organizations, sometimes they are unions, sometimes they are not. have done the hard lifting in bettering conditions for students and teachers in schools.
Frankly, parents are good as support, but the parents I’ve known in schools get so involved in their own child’s particular needs or problems, they can not look at the large picture. I’ve known several people who have started their own schools, and have failed misrably. It is HUGE undertaking, and needs more than enthusiasm and good will. It is very complex.
Would parents start their own hospital, their own law firm, their own car manufacturing company? People think because they went to school, they know what to do. That is wishful thinking. Education and teaching are HARD work. I’ve taught at all levels for over thirty years, and would never presume to start my own school with another woman.
If public schools were well supported, yes, I mean financially and emotionally, they could do the job. They are constantly being undermined by parents, the press, politicians, etc, and their funding is constantly being cut. I’ve heard the old saw “don’t throw money at it” but, these same people throw money at football teams, baseball teams, hockey teams, oil companies, etc.
The biggest problems in education are poverty and lack of home support. Deal with those first, then work up.
Lyndon Johnson’s “great society” and war on poverty was right in its aims, but was not allowed to work out long enough. I taught kindergarten during that time, in a school with federal help, the situation was what every kindergarten teacher should have: One session, 25-30 students with a FULL TIME aide. All day kindergartenwith 30 students, one teacher all day are impossible. Imagine yourself in a classroom with 30 rambunctious, wiggling five year olds five days a week, thirty five weeks of the year………!!!
So, that’s my rant. The way to solve our problems is not for two women to get excited and start their own school. It is to SUPPORT the schools, the teachers, and bring people up out of poverty.
I was involved with our parent/teacher committee when my daughter was first at school – as a parent on the committee – parents (other than committee members) used to appear at meetings when they had an axe to grind about issues that specifically impacted their children. The committee and the teachers went to all meetings – which I grew to dread because someone, or a group of someones would turn each meeting into a whine fest. I lasted 3 years & after that explained to my daughter that if there was EVER a debate between her and a teacher I was ALWAYS on the teacher’s side. If we wonder why there is violence in schools – I think it has much to do with the support teachers deserve, but rarely get, from parents.
Thank you for your rant Carolyn – starting your own school, in my opinion, is no different to religious “home schooling” which is the reason for much of the dumbing down of many communities today.
It is a very anti-teacher union film. Which is why the WSJ liked it.
And anti-public school. It’s a Repub message—privatize schools, privatize everything, private sector can do better than any govt. entity—–lots of money awaiting, money, money, money.
Thanks, friends. That was my guess–anti-teacher. Another big clue for me was that my husband wanted to see it–and he almost NEVER suggests we go see a movie. His trying to get tickets last night (w/out my reminding him) was a dead give-away. I am betting he got an email from Newsmax or someone else about it. The thing is: I was in education for over 30 years–taught full-time for 15 years and subbed (a LOT) for 19 years. He has the typical right-wing view: Unions are the main cause of all the problems in education. That pretty well sums up his opinion. Carolyn, you are 100% correct in everything you said so no need for me to repeat.
Thanks again!
The Billie Jean King ad has me in tears. We have come a long way and made so much progress under Pres. Obama. We’re a better country in so many ways under his leadership.
I cried like a baby
Me too.
Well said, UT! Any one who says that President Obama hasn’t fulfilled his promise for “Change We can Believe In” is bold-faced liar! I am in the same age group as Billie Jean King, and I have not witnessed comparable fundamental social changes under a modern president since the Kennedy -Johnston administrations. People forget that it took two administrations (the Kennedy-Johnson administrations) to advance Civil rights laws that primarily helped African Americans but also aided women and other minorities. Yet, under President Obama’s first term, major advances have been made in the Civil Rights of Gays/Lesbians.
Tuesday Oct. 16, 2012
Previous
Next
11:50 AM
Obama departs Williamsburg, Va.
12:00 PM
Biden travels to Penn Valley, Pa., to attend the funeral services for Senator Arlen Specter.
12:55 PM
Obama arrives in New York.
2:50 PM
Michelle Obama speaks to grassroots supporters in Chapel Hill, N.C.
9:00 PM
Obama participates in the second presidential debate at Hofstra University, Michelle Obama also attends.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/15/14452120-the-wrong-issue-for-the-wrong-candidate?lite
Late Friday afternoon, the Treasury Department published the official report on the U.S. budget deficit for the most recent fiscal year: $1.089 trillion. While that’s obviously still a very large budget shortfall, the deficit is $200 billion smaller than it was last year, and is nearly $300 billion smaller than when President Obama took office.
To add a little historical context to this, over the last four decades, only two presidents have reduced the deficit this much, this quickly: Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Good defense against Romney’s attacks tomorrow. Barack Obama has reduced the Bush deficit. He could do more if republicans compromised on taxes…
Just so they know, we know ….
Thanks Bob for constantly reminding them the difference between TRUTH and PROPAGANDA!
Pink
Slip!
for Romney!
Pink slips for Robney!
What, did you both plan that?
Their is the Coward Fineman, saying Clintons comments mean the President is politicizing the event, and it will not help him.
Hope fruit called it.
Fineman has nothing….he always tries to paint over the silver lining…he has not creditability…
for everyone of the polls that seeks to discourage me…for everyone of those politiical …so called liberal commentators who try to steal my spirit…….
Secretary Clinton taking responsibiity means there WAS a problem at the State Department. Secretary Clinton taking responsibility BEFORE the debate ? Yeah I hadn’t thought about the media frenzy before debate 2. It must have been coordinated with Pres. Obama; they must have weighted the pros and cons of the timing. Romney was planning to bring it tomorrow night anyway I’m sure…
Just how is this man the top journalist on huffy?
Katrina vanden Heuvel is an ass. She have being bashing Obma for 4 years, now she an Obama supporter. after Obama leave office all of the news people can kiss my butt. I’m a Obama democrat
It seems, the far left has gone to their corners after the first debate, trying to separate themselves from the President.
Sadly!
I AM AN OBAMAAAAAAAAAAAAA DEMOCRATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT…………….HA!
What a Moving video….(LGBT)
……
Because, our media tells them to be.
because the media no longer cares about reporting the truth. We’re in the post-truth era here in the U.S.
Because we have alot of racists here in this country. Remember it hasn’t been that long ago when Blacks were consider less than human, sold like a piece of meat.And yes we have come along way, but there are still people out there who can’t stand the fact that a black man is President.
There ya go!
Exactly! Tabloid sensationalism, mixed in with right wing propaganda, dominates U.S. media. Sadly, knowledge and education are greatly despised by a great many who aspire to govern the country.
A very dysfunctional media, big predominance of the right wing on radio, thirty years of propaganda for the conservative ideology.
I take responsibility” for what happened on September 11, Clinton said in an interview with CNN’s Elise Labott.
I don’t like this, Obama should come out and make a statement about the buck stop with him before mitt get a hold of this nugget.
He already did that!
Thank you.
Not for nothing, has Rachel ever considered that the Press should be, you know, informing the public?
She lays it all at the feet of the President.
I no longer watch MSNBC because I find them utterly disgusting.
That’s disgusting——and not professional at all. CNN doesn’t seem to care at all any more about any pretense of ethical conduct or any semblance of integrity or objective reporting.
Right? That is DISGUSTING. Talking about our SoS getting run over by the Commander in Chief. I am at a loss for words to describe this trash. These talking heads have NO journalism ethics, training, knowledge. It’s who looks good on tv and we are stuck with their idiocy. Which is why I don’t watch CNN or cable but then these fools have to peddle their sensationalism shit over on Twitter too..
Don Lemon is what we call a “media whore”. He acts and speaks for his bosses and what they want. They jump and he says, “How high?” And he is helping the party that wants to deprive him of basic rights as a gay man.
I hope you guys who listen to the likes of Don Lemon would contact him and let him know what you think of what he said. Do you? There was a time when I respected Lemon, not any more. I refuse to watch him or TeaNN.
Those who tweet, email, if you are piss off by what he said, let him know it.
Oh yes. I sent him some choice tweets. I’ve never been impressed by Don Lemon. He’s wishy-washy, gossipy, just a waste of time. And what he just did was utterly base and disgusting.
Lemon linking to Red State??? This is unbelievable.
Well, it’s not like he has to go that far to link. Erickson is on the CNN payroll.
Yes, I had to check it out to make sure. He linked to Red State. unfrigginbelievable.
CNN is worse than FOX!. Not many people believe that FOX is non-partisan, but there are many people who still cling to the idea that CNN is an objective, non-partisan, news channel. I stopped watching CNN completely (I had temporarily done that in 2003-2004) several months after President Obama took office. I just noticed how aggressive CNN reporters and pundits were in portraying President Obama negatively. I also noticed how the same CNN, which had dismissed the massive opposition to the Iraq war, quickly embraced the tea bag movement. Sadly, there are many Americans, including many of my clueless relatives, who still watch CNN religiously. That’s is what makes CNN more dangerous in manipulating people’s thinking.
On Nov 7′, I predict A LOT OF SO CALLED JOURNOS will be out of work. We, the viewing public of some semblance of intelligence will NOT need their dribble to let us know what our lying ears and eyes tell us. There are numerous other sources to obtain information.
Michelle Obama is interviewed on the Today Show tomorrow, and they’re having Ryan Secrest interview her???
I said the same thing to him tonight after he sent a different useless tweet about the history of swing states swinging. North Carolina had remained GOP more than any other. WTFC!
I guess when you’re getting paid seven figure salary from a corporate media outlet, you’ve got to justify it – somehow.
I think we should boycott all the Koch Bros products…considering they are threatening their employees with firing if they vote for the President. How they would actually KNOW that, is beyond me…but they need to know that we don’t take kindly to their threats against their employees!
http://inspirationgreen.com/koch-brothers-products.html
Exactly! Great tweet Bob!
OK, I am going to reveal what a ugly person I am, but I just can’t help it so here is my burning question for tonight….Do you think Mitt Romney will be wearing his magic underwear tomorrow night?….Do you think he was wearing them the last debate and that was what caused the difference in him?….Should I be concerned if Mitt Romney wears and believes in magic underwear?…..Google it, wikipedia, picture….Wonder if it could be one of the questions….boxers or briefs for PBO…..boxers or magic underwear for MR?……just sayin
Do you think those magic under wear is the reason Mitt walk like he has something stuck up his behind?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/10/15/its-official-non-partisan-kaiser-foundation-says-60-of-seniors-would-pay-more-for-medicare-under-romney-ryan-voucher-plan/
R/R..throwing seniors under the bus…one bankruptcy at a time.
FLOTUS can get people fired up like no one else can. I wonder what was the crowd size at this rally was.
Ryan’s rally in Waukesha WI was 1300 or less, and his Cincinnati rally was 500. But AP tells us that their crowds are “surging.”
For once, I would like to see some pics of the VultureVoucher ‘rallies’.
No. He wants to be King and doesn’t care how he gets there.
This, 100%!
This is a tweet of a non-political person who lives in Mpls, Minnesota – I follow her for baseball tweets. The Liar is going all out to confuse people.
https://twitter.com/KirbysLeftEye/status/258020656690626561
Seriously …. it is so astonishing it takes a while to really seep in …..
Great tweets Bob. It truly is beyond belief.
As much as all of us pay attention to this stuff, it still is sinking in just how totally bizarre the situation is …
Think about it … and don’t feel odd that it really does take time to sink in … this is unprecedented.
Nite, nite…going to bed with Lawrence!
Just got a card saying early voting in my Chicago suburb starts on Oct. 22. I’m gears up on Oct. 23. no matter what.
Wasn’t that wonderful of Paul Ryan and his family to go to a soup kitchen and wash dishes which weren’t dirty. What a bunch of hypocrites.
That photo- op was disgusting.
New post everyone:
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/10/15/14-million-thanks/
I think all people want is for the President not let Mitt Romney get away with his lies. He doesn’t have to be snarling, spitting psycho.