Obama's Victory

President Obama won the final debate hands down last night, while international man of shambling Willard "Horses and Bayonets" Romney floundered and embraced many of President Obama's positions for the first time. Willard seemed lost and flustered for much of the evening, as he debated the President on the President's strongest turf. Here are a couple of memorable jabs that the President threw at Willard:

“Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy, you seem to want to import the foreign policies of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s, and the economic policies of the 1920s.”

"You mention the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets. We have these things called aircraft carriers and planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines."

The post debate polls and commentary clearly gave the President the win. The neocons that support Horses and Bayonets must be wetting their Underoos today, with their candidate trying to be the "peace" candidate, avoiding all of the bellicose rhetoric that he's engaged in for 18 months. We've rarely seen such a cynical, phony re-make of a political candidate at the last minute as with Willard. If anyone needed proof that he lacks a core and will say anything to "close the deal," last night should have provided it in spades. It's come down to character, and Willard can't fake it anymore that he doesn't have any.

"Romnesia"

The President today at George Mason University in Virginia:



"Romnesia": don't catch it!

"The Moderate Mitt Myth"

Editorial in today's New York Times:

"From the beginning of his run for the Republican nomination, Mr. Romney has offered to transfigure himself into any shape desired by an audience in order to achieve power. In front of massed crowds or on television, he can sound sunny and inclusive, radiating a feel-good centrism. His 'severely conservative' policies and disdain for much of the country are reserved for partisans, donors and the harsh ideologues who clutter his party’s base. This polarity is often described as 'flip-flopping,' but the word is too mild to describe opposing positions that are simultaneously held.

"The best way to judge candidates is not by the popular way they describe their plans near the end of a campaign; it is by the most divisive presentations of themselves earlier on. A candidate’s political calculations when fewer people are watching is likely to say far more about character than poll-tested pleasantries in the spotlight."

The editorial is worth reading in full. (We just got back from a drive in the country, where the lawns were littered with Romney signs. The dissonance is hard to take.)

"The Do-Over"

BONUS: MoDo at the NY Times thinks it's too late for Mr. Shambles.

Quote of the Day II -- Willard's N.A.A.C.P. Aftermath

If you read nothing else today, read this short piece by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone about what a disaster Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney is as a candidate and human being. Here's a brief taste:

"Most presidents have something under the hood – wit, warmth, approachability, something. [snip]

"But Romney doesn’t buzz with anything. His vision of humanity is just a million tons of meat floating around in a sea of base calculations. He’s like a teenager who stays up all night thinking of a way to impress the prom queen, and what he comes up with is kicking a kid in a wheelchair. Instincts like those are probably what made him a great leveraged buyout specialist, but in a public figure? Man, is he a disaster. It’s really incredible theater, watching the Republicans talk themselves into this guy."

That this guy is polling in the mid-40's is a commentary on a large swath of the American electorate.

Willard Romney Attempts Human Interaction; Awkwardness Ensues

On the bus tour in Pennsylvania with Willard "My Horsey's Going to the Olympics!" Romney, wherein he mingles with other average Joes, jovially banters about where to score the best hoagie, and this:

"But Romney said his visit there [to a Wawa store] had been 'instructive' because it personified the difference between innovation in the private sector and the ability of the government to do its job.

"What inspired him: A computer at Wawa that allows customers to type in what they want on a sandwich, as opposed to ordering it through a human cashier. [snip]

"'You press a little touchtone key pad… You touch this, touch this, touch this, go pay the cashier, and there's your sandwich,' Romney said. 'It's amazing!'"

Someday, in Willard's perfect world, there won't be a need for any human interaction. Yay, private sector innovation!! Huzzah, job creators!!

(Photo: "And you, my good man, where do you purchase your hoagies, and do they have an ordering computer?")

More Man of the People - Horsey Set Edition

Stephen Colbert takes a riding crop to Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney, Common Man.

The Colbert Report
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Man Of The People Quote of the Day

"It's finally time to have a president who's in touch with what's happening in America, and I am." -- One percenter and multi-mansion owner Willard "Corporations Are People" Romney, speaking earlier in Orlando, FL.

Maybe Weird Willard thinks wearing mom jeans and loafers to rallies will fool a lot of rubes, and he's probably right. However, most Americans see this guy as a born-to-the-manor plutocrat, who thinks $375,000 isn't a lot of money, who has a car elevator in his California estate, whose wife drives two Cadillacs, who is worth some $240 million, and who likes to fire people. It doesn't help his campaign when his lying is so obvious either.

Cartoon of the Day -- Etch-a-Sketch Mitt Edition

(click to enlarge)



He'll have to do a lot of shaking to get rid of those pictures...

(Mike Luckovich, via gocomics.com)

The "Private" Mittens

We've been hearing that right-wingers are going to hold presumed Rethug nominee and well-lubricated weather vane Willard "Etch-A-Sketch" Romney to the hard-right views that he's been expressing during the primary season. That means it will be more difficult for Willard to slide to more moderate positions in the fall without alienating his extremist followers.

It's with that in mind that we noted E.J. Dionne's posting, which deals with a statement made by a "Romney advisor" that his private and public views on immigration aren't necessarily the same. This is why the Rethug base is so wary of Etch-A-Sketch, and why we will be gratified to see it blow up in his face.

Severely Sketchy

Even the most delusional wingnut has the sense that weird plutocrat and habitual liar Willard "Weathervane" Romney isn't what he claims to be. He won't discuss his record as Governor in Massachusetts because....well, it was a moderate record, comparatively. He doesn't have a good answer to why he claimed he wasn't a "Reagan-Bush Republican" and that he considered himself a pro-choice, pro-gun control independent in the late '80s and early '90s. Instead, he falls back on his corporate record of predatory takeovers, which has its own major problems regarding job creation and profits, but ones which the broken media can't or won't analyze.

We're glad that, once again, a good metaphor has been created to illustrate what an empty, cynical opportunist weird Willard is. He will say anything -- lies included -- to get a vote or two, because he has no core principles that he will stand by.

The "Real" Willard

We saw this hilarious mash-up of clips that make the point that well-lubricated weather vane and tree height expert Willard "Flip Flop Mitt" Romney doesn't believe in much beyond his own ambition. They save the best riff for the end ("the other Mitt Romneys...."), just don't play it loudly at your workplace.



BONUS: Willard's communications director said today that Willard can reset his campaign in the fall to appeal to moderates: "Everything changes. It's almost like an Etch-a-Sketch." That should help him with a Rethug base that thinks he's as real as a 3 dollar bill.

Quote of the Day - Inauthentic Mittens Edition

Weird phony Willard "Millionaire Mittens" Romney was in Jackson, Mississippi, today campaigning, trying on his best Southern good ol' boy act:

"Morning, y'all! I got started right this morning with a biscuit and some cheesy grits. Delicious!"

Boy howdy! You fer damn sure a Yankee Wall Street millionaire peckerwood we'uns can git behind...y'all!

Willard's Many Loves

Wherein Willard "I Love Cars" Romney channels Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) - or is it the other way around?


(AFSCME)

All You Need Is Love

When you think Willard "Mittens" Romney can't get any more phony and weird, he surprises you. For example, in remarks to the Chamber of Commerce in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Weird Willard came up with this strange rap:

"I love this state. It seems bright here. Trees are the right height. I like seeing the lakes. . .I love cars. I grew up totally in love with cars."

We know that Mormons are prohibited from drinking alcohol, but what on Earth is he on? Trees are the right height?

Yesterday, a pundit compared him to a Conehead, just arrived from outer space and mangling the language. Trying to be "normal" in interacting with the public seems to be a bridge too far for Weird Willard.

Just Call Mittens "Captain America"

Here's an excerpt from the standard stump speech of humanoid replica and corporate raider Willard "Millionaire Mittens" Romney. Marvel at its banality:

“I believe in an America where millions of Americans believe in an America that’s the America millions of Americans believe in. That’s the America I love.”

The first question would be, "Did you get your speechwriter from Rudy "9-11, 9-11" Giuliani?" The second question would be, "Do you think you mentioned 'America' and 'Americans' enough times? The final question would be, "If you're such a red-white-and-blue patriot, why did you avoid serving in the armed forces?"

I'll Bet This Is The Cartoon of the Day

The forest Kathleen Parker (see below) missed (click to enlarge):


(Pat Oliphant, via gocomics.com)

Mostly, The Blind Squirrel Doesn't Find The Acorn

Blind squirrel Kathleen Parker swooning in today's Kaplan Daily, expertly parsing the bet Millionaire Mitt offered Rick "Oops" Perry at the latest Rethug "debate", and mystically determining that the wager was not too cold, not too hot, not too hard, not too soft, but Just Right, all the while missing the forest for the trees:

"... Ten thousand dollars was the perfect number. A dollar would have been silly; $10 trite. A hundred would have seemed amateurish; a thousand, too studied. At the higher end, $100,000 would have been boastful, and a million would have tied Romney to the millionaire’s club to which he does belong — but the man is not a braggart. Ergo, $10,000 was an amount he could afford to lose (the first rule of betting), and it was high enough to demonstrate his certitude."

Oh. My. God.

Millionaire Mitt's $10,000 Bet

Wherein Millionaire Mitt/ Willard Romney offers a wager to Rick "Oops" Perry at last night's Rethuglican/ 1% Party "debate:"

Tweet of the Day -- Mitt's "Grassroots" Supporters Edition

(h/t Rising Hegemon)