The Democratic National Committee has created a brutal website WhichMitt.com that shows up some of Mitt Romney’s more egregious flip-flops, using only his own words (including video). As Politico puts it “It’s not just what he says, but the total forcefulness and sincerity with which he says it.”
Here’s just one example — Romney on Roe v. Wade (both for and against):
“Sarah Palin will not run for president, which is good news for Palin-haters, but bad news for the moose population.” – Jimmy Kimmel
“Sarah Palin announced she’s not running. Finally, a Palin who pulls out before it’s too late.” – Jay Leno
“Are you telling me that driving around the country in a bus with a giant picture of her face next to the Constitution was just a giant publicity stunt? I find that hard to believe.” – Jimmy Kimmel
“They say Chris Christie decided not to get into the presidential race because he has no shot at winning. That’s not stopping President Obama though.” – Jay Leno
“Chris Christie decided not to run. He had a big decision. He weighed the pros. He weighed the cons. He weighed himself. I like the guy. This is a candidate we could have all gotten behind. Now they’re saying he might be a Vice Presidential candidate. He’d make a great one. I’ll bet this guy knows how to spell ‘potato’.” – David Letterman
“A month ago, all we heard about was Rick Perry and now, he’s off the map. He had a worse September than the Red Sox.” – David Letterman
“Will Herman Cain become the first black President … that I acknowledge? I call him a dark horse because he’s an unlikely candidate who surged forward, and not because he’s … a horse.” – Stephen Colbert
“The founder of Home Depot announced that he is supporting Mitt Romney for president. It’s kind of a nice story, because Mitt Romney was actually assembled with parts from Home Depot.” – Jimmy Fallon
“Republican voters have been reduced to using the same criteria as a 4 a.m. barroom pickup: he has a pulse and no visible cold sores.” – Stephen Colbert
“Hey, Congratulations to Donald Trump, who just welcomed his fourth grandchild! You could tell it was Trump’s grandchild because as soon as it came out, it demanded to see its own birth certificate.” – Jimmy Fallon
“Hank Williams, Jr. was fired by ESPN because he compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler. That’s a rookie mistake.” – David Letterman
“Today first lady Michelle Obama made a surprise visit to the Secret Service headquarters. Michelle was like, ‘You guys are great. But since I was able to surprise you . . . you’re fired.'” – Jimmy Fallon
”The ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement has basically been a four-week downtown Manhattan live-in, which has spread to cities all around the country, causing the media to move its coverage dial from ‘Blackout’ to ‘Circus’.” – Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart interviews Michael Lewis, who talks about the new third world — countries like Iceland and Greece that have gone broke — and the funny and ironic ways it happened. Watch both parts:
[Written by Fred Wickham, reposted from Bullseye Rooster]
My debate plan.
I can share this because I know no Republican candidates, nor their staffs, will be reading my blog. I have made it unavailable to them. Here’s the plan — and the debate’s sponsors have taken me up on it. So be ready for fireworks this Tuesday night.
A questioner — from Bloomberg, Washington Post, or WBIN-TV — will say to the candidates, “I have two important documents with me. One of them will be your guide to governing this country. You may only choose one. No hedging will be allowed.” Then the questioner will produce the U.S. Constitution and the Bible.
Right down the row: Bachmann, Perry, Cain, Romney, Huntsman, Gingrich and whoever else is still in the running. Will they all leave the stage in a huff? We’ll find out. I’m hoping the questioner has the guts to stop any attempted spin. “Choose one or the other, Governor!”
The sponsors haven’t gotten back to me on this yet, but I’m sure they’re going to call me tomorrow and say it’s a go.
In light of how we have become a country that demonizes immigrants (mostly illegal ones but sometimes even legal), a regular reader sent me the following comment:
Today is the day we celebrate the arrival of the first illegal immigrants. Spanish speaking ones at that. Who came to mine the riches of this land and take them back to their country. For this we take the day off.
Not to mention gladly taking Stimulus funds and bragging about the projects after voting against them.
“Chris Christie announced that he will not run for president. I don’t think you have to announce that, I think you just don’t run.” – Jimmy Kimmel
”Christie made a big announcement this afternoon. I haven’t watched it yet because I don’t want to know. I’m going to pretend he announced that he’s the new iPhone.” – Stephen Colbert
“New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie officially announced that he will not be running for president. Do we really want a president who looks like an American League umpire?” – David Letterman
“Not only did Christie say he’s not going to run, he’s also not going to jog or walk anymore.” –Jimmy Kimmel
“People said it’s not fair to joke about Chris Christie being fat when they wouldn’t make the same kinds of jokes if he were gay. But it’s a whole different thing. For one thing, if he were gay, he wouldn’t be fat. I’d love to have him in the Oval Office. He’d fit right in.” – Jimmy Kimmel
“Chris Christie would have been the first American President visible from space. The Marine Band would have played ‘Hail to the Chef.’ If he’d run, the Republicans would have had to choose between him and Rick Perry. One’s morbidly obese, and the other is morally obtuse.” – David Letterman
“Big changes in the Republican field. It’s a 10-way tie for Not Romney.” – Stephen Colbert
“A dead cat might still be more appealing than Mitt Romney. After all, a dead cat did not create the model for Obamacare.” – Stephen Colbert
“As the Republicans continue checking underneath every available flag pin and Bible for viable candidates, presumed de facto frontrunner candidate Mitt Romney has gotta be thinking, ‘What the fudge? This is starting to hurt where my feelings should be.'” – Jon Stewart
“Even if Republican voters know who the real Mitt Romney is, Mitt Romney doesn’t.” – Jon Stewart
“In a new interview, President Obama revealed that Steve Jobs gave him an iPad last year before it was officially released. Unfortunately, it broke when Biden thought it was an Etch A Sketch and started shaking it.” – Jimmy Fallon
Why do the Wall Street protestors need a spokesperson? It seems pretty obvious why they are protesting.
The other panel members were Republicans. For most of the show, Alan just sat quietly, which really surprised and disappointed me. Then suddenly, he let them have it. It was great. I just wish that the camera had shown the standing ovation.
And here is Elizabeth Warren making a similar point:
I try to avoid talking about Ann Coulter, but just to add to the irony, Coulter recently complained about the things being said by the protestors, claiming that they were just like things that were said just before the French Revolution. My question is whether that means that Coulter is comparing herself to Marie “let them eat cake” Antoinette.
UPDATE: Read Paul Krugman’s column “Panic of the Plutocrats“.
You think this is a joke? In an article in the Wall Street Journal, climate change denier Robert Bryce makes the following bizarre claim:
The science is not settled, not by a long shot. Last month, scientists at CERN, the prestigious high-energy physics lab in Switzerland, reported that neutrinos might—repeat, might—travel faster than the speed of light. If serious scientists can question Einstein’s theory of relativity, then there must be room for debate about the workings and complexities of the Earth’s atmosphere.
UPDATE: The CERN mystery seems to have been solved and the theory of relativity is safe. Ironically, it was the theory of relativity that provided the solution to the mystery.
Every time someone complains about the protestors blocking traffic or causing some other inconvenience, I just have to laugh. Like the bankers who destroyed the economy didn’t cause any inconveniences at all.
After completely ignoring the “Occupy Wall Street” protests, finally someone at the New York Times seems to get it (albeit in an opinion piece, not in the regular news):
Indeed, the twin drivers of America’s nascent protest movement against the financial sector are injustice and invisibility, the very grievances that drove the Arab Spring.
In the past month, it has been odd to read Twitter and blog posts from the Middle East taking the Wall Street protests far more seriously than anyone here has. My reflexive response was to explain that they didn’t understand our politics; after all, that is so often what citizens of other countries tell Americans when we opine oh-so-knowingly about their politics.
But in this case, I am beginning to suspect that people abroad with long experience of disenfranchisement and trampling of their dignity may in fact understand the fissures in our society better than we do ourselves.
I’ve been long baffled how our media seemed (or at least claimed) to understand the protests that drove of the Arab Spring, and yet when faced with similar protests at home were completely clueless. In most cases, the media either ignored the protests or ridiculed them.
They covered how the Internet (including things like Twitter and Facebook) fueled the protests in the Middle East that have increased democracy and even overthrown dictators. But they refused to understand how the same things might happen here. Are we really that blind? How else will people react when faced with a dysfunctional political system that makes average people feel powerless and betrayed?
Hopefully, the Democratic Party (including unions) will not be able to co-opt this movement the way the Republican Party (including large corporations) took over the Tea Party movement, because the problem is not a partisan one, it is endemic to our political system.
And it is also clearly the fault of our mainstream media, which can’t recognize the problem because they are part of it.
With all the attacks on entitlements, we should also go after how Wall Street feels they are entitled to massive bailouts along with obscene profits and bonuses.
When will her fans figure out that she is just ripping them off, over and over and over again?
“Rick Perry is pretty serious about running for President. Today he freed all of the slaves on his ranch. Did you hear about that?” – Jay Leno
“Not looking good for Perry. In fact, earlier today, Herman Cain said that he would rather go hunting with Dick Cheney than Rick Perry.” – Jay Leno
“Herman Cain said that as president, he will bring Republicans and Democrats together. He was the guy that brought pineapple and ham together on a pizza, so it wouldn’t be surprising.” – Jimmy Kimmel
“We’re learning more about these Republican candidates. Did you know Mitt Romney speaks French…did you know that? Jon Huntsman is fluent in Chinese. Of course, Michele Bachmann was never able to learn a second language, thanks to a vaccine she was given against her will as a child.” – Jay Leno
“In a new interview, Michele Bachmann said that quote, ‘China has blinded U.S. satellites with their lasers.’ Which explains Michele Bachmann’s new campaign adviser: Gary Busey.” – Jimmy Fallon
“That terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed last week, was American-born and was a top recruiter for al-Qaida. You don’t often see an American taking a foreigner’s job.” – Jay Leno
“Special Forces killed the editor of al-Qaida’s magazine. So your delivery may be a little late this month. Before this guy worked for al-Qaida’s magazine, he worked for ‘Carbomb and Driver.'” – David Letterman
“Police in Massachusetts have arrested a man for allegedly planning to blow up the Pentagon and the Capitol by using radio-controlled model airplanes filled with explosives. Is this the best the terrorists have now? Using toys? What has Wile E. Coyote joined Al Qaeda? What’s next? Maybe a batch of poison cookies cooked from an EZ Bake oven?” – Jay Leno
“It’s the third week of the Wall Street protests and they’ve closed down an entire Manhattan street. And then, the cops asked Michael Moore to move.” – Craig Ferguson
“More than 700 protestors were arrested over the weekend for blocking traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. They say the best way to fight corporate greed is to make random people sit in traffic while they’re trying to visit their aunt in Brooklyn.” – Jimmy Kimmel
“I don’t know much about the Supreme Court. If it’s anything like the Supreme Taco, it’s like a regular court, but with extra sour cream.” – Craig Ferguson
“There are nine Supreme Court members and nine people on a baseball team. Coincidence? Yes.” – Craig Ferguson
“Hey, congratulations to the Obamas, who are celebrating their 19th wedding anniversary today. They were going to go out to dinner, but they couldn’t find a sitter for Biden.” – Jimmy Fallon
“Actually, President Obama did take Michelle out to a lovely dinner on Saturday. It was a little awkward, though. When the bill came, Obama just put it on the tab of the Chinese couple sitting next to them.” – Jimmy Fallon
“Happy anniversary to President Obama and the first lady. They had a nice private dinner to celebrate the 19th anniversary of the last time someone said ‘yes’ to an Obama proposal.” – Craig Ferguson
Jon Stewart on the mainstream media reaction to the Occupy Wall Street protests:
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