Major Endorsements

The Salt Lake Tribune

Tribune Endorsement: Too Many Mitts

Obama has earned another term
...

Sadly, it is not the only Romney, as his campaign for the White House has made abundantly clear, first in his servile courtship of the tea party in order to win the nomination, and now as the party’s shape-shifting nominee. From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign: "Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?"

The evidence suggests no clear answer, or at least one that would survive Romney’s next speech or sound bite. Politicians routinely tailor their words to suit an audience. Romney, though, is shameless, lavishing vastly diverse audiences with words, any words, they would trade their votes to hear.

Denver Post

Endorsement: Barack Obama for president
...

And though there is much in Mitt Romney's résumé to suggest he is a capable problem-solver, the Republican nominee has not presented himself as a leader who will bring his party closer to the center at a time when that is what this country needs.
His comments on the 47 percent of Americans who refuse to "take personal responsibility and care for their lives" were a telling insight into his views and a low point of the campaign.
Obama, on the other hand, has shown throughout his term that he is a steady leader who keeps the interests of a broad array of Americans in mind.
We urge Coloradans to re-elect him to a second term.


Read more: Endorsement: Barack Obama for president - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_21804862/editorial-barack-obama-president#ixzz29rAlE3AF
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Tampa Bay Times

Times recommends

Obama for president
...

Although he came to the job with limited foreign policy experience, Obama has been reasonably sure-footed. His appointment of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state reflected the Democrat's self-confidence to invite a former rival and wife of a former president to join his administration. Obama followed through on his promise to withdraw troops from Iraq, which Romney called a mistake. The president's temporary troop surge in Afghanistan stabilized the country and checked the Taliban's momentum. Yet the president recognizes Americans have no appetite for a never-ending war for diminishing returns. He pledges to pull combat forces out of Afghanistan in 2014, while Romney remains fuzzy about his intentions.

Romney suggests Obama has been too timid on foreign policy, but it took courage to order the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The Republican's saber-rattling about the violence in Syria and Iran's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon is particularly concerning. This nation has neither the resources nor the appetite for another discretionary military adventure. Obama's mix of diplomacy, coalition-building and tough economic sanctions remains the smarter approach.

I suspect the Tampa endorsement comes because the Repugs were lousy tippers at the strip clubs during their convention, cheap bastids that they are. Heh.

Much more at all of these thoughtful op-eds.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Hardly strictly bluegrass 2012

Emmylou Harris ~ Talk To Me Of Mendocino

Thanks to lisap2468.

When Giants Meet...

...the world trembles. In joy and mirth, as it turned out. Alternate Brain meets deuddersun.

The backstory is d gave me his room number over the phone. We went to the motel and I asked how to get to his room and I got the room number wrong. The desk clerk, a very nice young lady, knew instantly that I must be up to some scam and she needed to protect her guests so she called him and he and his lovely daughter came down to meet us and this is the hysteric historic meetup, like the U.S. and U.S.S.R. at the Rhine.

Update:

Oh crap, it's HUGE! Ran off the screen onto the file cabinet! I tried to reduce the size but failed so far.

Update II:

Got it!

Headline of the Day

Liquid alert!

Gary Johnson adviser: RNC chair ‘Reince Penis’ belongs in a police lineup

Bwafuckin'hahahaha!

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate, might be Romney's spoiler in this election like Nader was to Gore. Talk him up with your conservative friends.

Old Southie Chooses Tagg Off

This was so good! Via Raw Story.

Lawrence O’Donnell to ‘Taggart’ Romney: Your dad is a liar so ‘take a swing at me’

“The flawlessly consistent, intergenerational combat cowardice of Romney men makes today’s threat of physical violence from a Romney man all the more surprising,” the MSNBC host added, referring to Tagg Romney’s desire to deck the president.

O’Donnell then looked into the camera and spoke directly to “Taggart”:

O'Donnell lapsed back into a little of his Southie accent for this. Fabulous! Here's the transcript. Go see the video.

When I hear you talking about taking a swing and taking punches, why do I get the feeling that you’ve never actually taken a punch? Or thrown a punch? I didn’t have that luxury in the part of Boston that I grew up in. But in your rich, suburban Boston life, with your father filling a $100 million trust fund for you, I don’t know, I just get the feeling that things were kind of different for you.

Now, I know you’ve got a lot — a lot to be pissed off at these days, starting with the name Taggart, which you got every right to be wicked pissed off at for every day for the 42 years of your life. So, let me try to help you deal with all this aggression you’re feeling right now.

You’re mad at President Obama for calling your father a liar? Well, let’s get something straight, he didn’t call your father a liar, I did. The president just said that what your father said isn’t true. I’ve been saying all year that your father is a liar, I’ve repeatedly said that your father lies and is trying to lie his way into the White House.

You want to take a swing at someone for calling your old man a liar? Take a swing at me. Come on, come on. And don’t worry, there won’t be any Secret Service involved. Just us. And I’ll make it easy for you, I’ll come to you. Anytime, anywhere.”

“Go ahead, Taggart, take your best shot,” O’Donnell concluded.

Lawrence knows damn well he won't ever have to make good on it because the Romney boys are fuckin' privileged punks and won't take him up on it. They have people to do that. Even if Tagg summoned up the sack, or lost his fuckin' mind, and actually tried it, O'Donnell could probably kick his ass anyway.

I should say by way of disclosure that I was a privileged punk too. A hitch in the Marine Corps got me over that. For all their money, the Romneys never had that advantage and are still and will remain punks.

Here's my take on Tagg's "liar" comment - he wasn't pissed off at Obama for calling his dad a liar so much as he was pissed off that the help had the audacity to talk back to him. The "little people" (anybody but them) just don't do that in their elitist world, and they can't fire Obama for insubordination. It must hurt them to the quick to find out dissent against their views is allowed outside their bubble.

Welcome to our world, sonny. I hope you choke on it.

Snow Job on Jobs

Paul Krugman on Rmoney's "jobs" plan.

So when the campaign says that these three studies support its claims about jobs, it is, to use the technical term, lying — just as it is when it says that six independent studies support its claims about taxes (they don’t).

What do Mr. Romney’s economic advisers actually believe? As best as I can tell, they’re placing their faith in the confidence fairy, in the belief that their candidate’s victory would inspire an employment boom without the need for any real change in policy. In fact, in his infamous Boca Raton “47 percent” remarks, Mr. Romney himself asserted that he would give a big boost to the economy simply by being elected, “without actually doing anything.” And what about the overwhelming evidence that our weak economy isn’t about confidence, it’s about the hangover from a terrible financial crisis? Never mind.

To summarize, then, the true Romney plan is to create an economic boom through the sheer power of Mr. Romney’s personal awesomeness. But the campaign doesn’t dare say that, for fear that voters would (rightly) consider it ridiculous. So what we’re getting instead is an attempt to brazen it out with nakedly false claims. There’s no jobs plan; just a plan for a snow job on the American people.

"Hose Job" is more like it.

Some mistakes hurt worse than others

Tagg Romney Wanted To ‘Take A Swing’ At Obama

Scenario: Tagg takes a swing at Obama. Obama wipes blood off his lip, grins, says "That the best ya got, white boy?" and proceeds to swab the deck with him. Heh.

OMG Update!

Tagg Romney's Gay Lover Speaks Out: The Inevitable Interview

...

"I know why he's so tense. Yes, it's because his dad is running for president. But it's because he hasn't been able to sneak away for a weekend together. He's being watched too much. His brothers have been telling him to stay away. By the way, two more of them are gay. And one of them is way into S&M, can't even get hard without having his nuts stomped by a stiletto heel. I'm pretty sure that one has had sex with the horse, too. Anyways, Taggart's texted me a few times. He talks about how much he misses me in his ass and how often he's masturbated thinking about it. He's a nice guy, way nicer than his brothers or his dad. Or his mom. This Obama punching stuff just isn't like him.

"To everyone else, Tagg Romney will be Mitt Romney's son, maybe the son of a president. But to me? He'll always be my favorite cocksucker."

Light Blogging Today

Things to do. See yas later.

When the President Comes to Town

From William Rivers Pitt in a good post on Tuesday night's debate.

The political "news" media needs a simple, direct story line to survive, so here it is: the bully got punched in the mouth on Tuesday night, and did not like the taste of his own blood. Mr. Romney's advisors clearly told him to double-down on the blustery, brazen tactics of the first debate, but that advice withered within the first ten minutes before a presidential adversary who was too smart, too tough, and too good to let stupidity win the day a second time.

Mitt Romney found himself in a room with the Commander in Chief, and came off by comparison looking like a guy who had lost a contact lens while trying to navigate an alligator pit in the midst of a negotiation over the exact value of his own testicles.

I'm sure the alligators enjoyed them. Heh.

On the failed War On Drugs and the Prison-Industrial Complex

Must see TV. The hell of this is that we have to get it from a basic cable comedy show.

In this exclusive, unedited interview, Eugene Jarecki investigates the financial, social and moral failure of America's war on drugs. (06:35)

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Eugene Jarecki Extended Interview Pt. 2
In this exclusive, unedited interview, "The House I Live In" director Eugene Jarecki suggests policy alternatives to throwing drug offenders into prison. (07:03)

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Big Trouble in Limbaugh Land

Good. Kos, many links.

In 2006, Mitt Romney officially announced his run for president of the United States.

Also in 2006, Clear Channel, the largest radio network in the world, announced that it was being purchased and taken private by Bain Capital, the one time (and perhaps still?) Mitt Romney-controlled private equity fund.
...

Early this year, largely as a result of the Bain takeover, Clear Channel was in debt more than 19 billion dollars. Last March, Bain Capital took an additional 2.2 billion dollars out of Clear Channel, so the debt is now greater than 21 billion.

Big debt comes with harsh deadlines. Clear Channel has to come up with $500 million in debt payments by the end of 2013, a payment of $1.1 billion due in 2014, and then a much larger payment of $12 billion due in 2016.
...

So Clear Channel has since decided to restructure $2 billion of its debt. This has been described as "kicking some debt down the road", meaning that all of the 2014 payments, and a small part of the 2016 payments, will now be due in 2019. The significant drawback to rescheduling this debt is higher interest payments, which have been estimated at an additional $100 million per year. And Moodys says that more of the 2016 debt will need to be rescheduled.

Now think about this circumstance. Mitt Romney's Bain Capital bought Clear Channel and financed their purchase with deep debt. Their corporate austerity requirements have forced layoffs, the most recent of which occurred on March 30 of 2012. That was just two weeks after Bain Capital raided Clear Channel's assets by forcing a two billion dollar dividend payment, paid for with a loan arrangement which prompted lawsuits. Just six months later, Clear Channel (as one of Bain Capital's piggy banks) finds it necessary to seek two billion dollars in debt relief (imagine that!) by "kicking the [debt] can down the road".

I hope they sink without a trace and take Romney and all the wingnut gasbags down with them.

Swing voters for fun and terror

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford on undecided voters like there really are some.

But still, it must be said: How sweet it mostly is to live here in California right about now. Not merely for the weather, or the insane food, or the coast, or the culture, the variety, the nature, the beaches or the sushi or the music or the trees or any of the other usual suspects of wonky and dead-broke fabulousness the West side is so rightly praised/bejealoused over.

No, the source of our delight at this moment is our utter and glorious lack of soul-mauling political ads, the deeply gratifying non-existence of Romney and Obama pummeling all common senses into submission via billboards, TV, radio, skywriting and knocking on the goddamn front door every five minutes as they try with all their millions to sway that most bizarre of American creature, that most disturbing cultural substrata, that ideological cartoon character known as the “swing voter.”

Ah, the mysterious swing voter. Who are these bizarre beasts of the American political underbelly? Who dares, at this point in his/her wobbly existence, to have no concrete clue as to what’s going on, whom to vote for, or why they should bother to learn to understand how to care about any of it in the first place?
...

Swing voter! You are like that mysterious giant eyeball washing ashore in Florida. You are like the toxic Flamin’ Hot Cheetos of the obese American schoolyard. You are like Sarah Palin in the bleary apocalypse morning: A weird, enthralling and slightly disturbing part of the news cycle for a short burst of time, before you fall back into the category of “just not very bright.”
...

Perhaps, then, we should clarify further. Because if it’s sort of glorious to be in California where the electoral college is so devoutly blue, it’s perhaps even better to be in a city like San Francisco (or Chicago, Or LA, or New York, et al, or just about any decent college town in America), where there is never a doubt which way the electorate will go, and there is a sort of calm reassurance that there are enough smart people around to keep the joint in check.

Say what you like, but the truism is the same planet wide: the closer you get to educational and cultural hubs, the more liberal and progressive you become, and the less likely the notorious, undecided “swing voter” will have any meaning to you whatsoever.

Conversely, the less education and fewer worldly smarts, travels, you have, the more likely you are prone to fear, night terrors, a scowling and judgmental God, ever paranoid that foreigners will steal your popsicles, sex will make you blind and the gays will eat your soul. Romney 2012!

Please read the rest and don't miss the comments!

Rude Observations on Last Night's Presidential Debate

You know who likens the debate to a cockfight.

2. So last night, Cock 1, President Obama, decided that sleepy time was over and came out of the gate ready to destroy the myth of Mitt. In the first ten minutes, he said that Romney wasn't telling the truth multiple times. And, for the first time in any presidential debate the Rude Pundit's witnessed, it really looked like one of them was going to punch the other. That moment over whether or not oil production was cut was genuinely tense. For most of the 100 minutes or so, Obama was not the usual punk-ass Democrat, trying to find places to agree with the Republican. Instead, he was the asskicker-in-chief, taking Romney and the audience to school again and again. If this had been the first debate, we'd be talking about how big a landslide the president would win by. But it wasn't. And while Obama will still eke out a victory, it would have been nice to have put it away.
...

8. One bit of advice for debate the third: the President has yet to talk about how Republican obstructionism has prevented many of his promises from being passed or implemented. That's why Romney kept saying that Obama didn't "file a bill" on things like immigration. Because if Romney had said that something didn't pass, then that opens the door to saying that the Republican senators are a bunch of assholes who care more about preventing an Obama victory on anything than on helping the nation.

9. At the end of the debate, the Rude Pundit didn't see the candidates shake hands. By concluding with an attack on Romney's 47% remarks, Obama pretty much went over to Cock 2 and shit on him while he was dying. The living cock doesn't need to shake hands with the dead one.

Word.

The Other Sept. 11

No shit. I've called it the "RS3M" for years. That's "Republican Spin, Slime, and Smear Machine". Folks with a more general gentler and more sensitive audience call it the "Mighty Wurlitzer".

Slate

Blame Obama for four deaths in Libya. But don’t blame Bush for nearly 3,000 deaths in New York.

The president was warned of an impending threat of terrorism. He failed to act. The attack came, Americans died, and now the administration is covering up the truth.

That’s what Republicans are arguing in 2012. Which is pretty funny, if you don’t count the dead Americans, because it’s the opposite of what the GOP said 10 years ago. Back then, the conspiracy theories and the 20/20 hindsight were about the original 9/11 attacks. And the Republican Party line was that anyone who accused the president of neglect or deceit was unpatriotic.

Please read the rest. Always remember and never forget, IOKIYAR. Buncha whiny bastards, every last fuckin' one of 'em. My dream is to live long enough to see the last fuckin' one of 'em.

Headline of the Day

Anderson Cooper calls out Romney for claiming ‘blog posts’ are tax plan studies

Get 'em, Andy!

If "blog posts" are "tax plan studies", Alternate Brain is the "Master Plan For Good Governance". Heh.

Jon Stewart Mocks Fox News’ Post-VP Debate Spin

TPM

When “the ghost of Barack Obama” debated Mitt Romney earlier this month, MSNBC appropriately freaked out and deemed Romney the winner, Jon Stewart said on Monday. That wasn’t the case with Fox News after last week’s vice presidential debate.

“To sum up Fox’s post-debate coverage: Joe Biden was an angry, demented, abusive, drunk, old, crazy person who mopped the floor with our guy,” Stewart said.

Yeah, us angry, demented, abusive, drunk, old, crazy persons'll do that...

Watch the video:

The Daily Show
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Obama’s New Debate Strategy

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—With his polite and well-mannered performance widely panned in the first Presidential debate, President Barack Obama is under mounting pressure to prove that he can act like an asshole in the second debate tomorrow night, a campaign aide confirmed.

“In America, we demand that our President remain cool and calm in a crisis but go batshit in a debate,” the aide said. “Tuesday night is all about that second piece.”
...

But even as Mr. Obama worked around the clock to practice being a douche, Mitt Romney’s campaign manager, Matt Rhoades, doubted his efforts would succeed.

“Being an asshole isn’t a skill that you can just pick up overnight,” Mr. Rhoades said. “Mitt Romney’s been working on it all his life.”

Yo Barry, whatever it takes...

Quotes of the Day

Kos

Los Angeles erases its budget deficit in an instant after issuing its first-ever ticket to the Space Shuttle Endeavour for violating every motor vehicle law ever written.

Wishful thinking dept.:

Tuesday: President Obama and Mitt Romney meet for debate #2 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. Moments later, Republicans switch places with Democrats on window ledges.

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner and his parachute are finally freed from Gladys Higginbotham's Albuquerque chimney after she reports to police that all that Austrian swearing wasn't in her head after all.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Employment Improves in September, Says Bureau of Labor Statistics
Romney adds Bureau of Labor Statistics to list of government agencies he'll get rid of.

Last Week: Republicans Don't Believe Polls, Jobless Numbers
This week: Republicans don't believe jobless numbers.

Taliban in Pakistan Surprised By Poor Reception of Near-Fatal Attack on 14-Year-Old Girl Who Asserted Her Right to Go to School
If armed men on motorcycles can't stand up to 14-year-old girls, how can they be expected to stone their mothers?

Poll Reveals 1 in 5 Americans Have No Religious Affiliation
But still believe in God, Satan, heaven, hell, miracles, ghosts, Santa Claus.

Also the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and the chance that there's an honest Republican pol.