Vote For Your Life

After following the Mitt-tastrophe, from the insulting remarks and condescension in England to the “No Press Allowed” money grab and Bibi fluffing in Israel, I’ve been trying to find the words to sum up this candidate and the party that nominated him.  Tom Levenson has done so beautifully and succinctly.  The whole thing is worth framing, but this point needs to be shouted from the rooftops for the next 100 days (emphasis mine):

“More to the point:  there is no such thing as a good Republican candidate anymore, at any level.  Your city councilmember, your state rep., your congressional representative as individuals could be reasonable, smart, caring, trying to reform this failed party from within.  Mitt Romney himself may seem to the more credulous among our media elite to be a more thoughtful and moderate man than he is a candidate. (If you are truly credulous, or simply a hack, you may even bet on Romney’s “secret plan” to fix the economy.)

None of that matters.  “Good” Republicans are mere useful idiots, providing scraps of cover for the radical authoritarians wielding the real power. The party is committed to public policy stance that is destructive, both of American prospects and those of folks all around the world.  It must be driven so far from the political arena as to be destroyed, until whatever emerges from its wreckage, even if it persists in operating under the label “Republican,” is utterly transformed from the catastrophic clown show we now watch in horror.”

The man tells the truth, and speaks it plain.

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Apologies Rendered

That’s it then, apologies MUST be rendered.

Simply HAS to be done, no way to avoid it.

First, to our friends across the pond, I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies for the utter catastrophe that is Willard Mitt Romney von Hoof-In-Mouth and the spectacle he has unleashed upon your country.  While I give you full credit for realizing and acknowledging in less than 24 hours that which our NeoConfederate friends here at home STILL cannot see, it should never have fallen to you to bear such an onerous and, frankly, undignified burden.

Second, to the denizens of the Twitterverse, sorry that I couldn’t see all the responses you came up with in the face of this debacle.  Your righteous snark was of such overwhelming power and fury that Twitter itself was forced to lie down and nap lest it perish.

Finally, to you the readers of this humble blog, my apologies to not speaking to this earlier.  Between laughing so hard I cried/pulled an abdominal muscle/wet myself (choose any two), trying and failing to keep up with comments elsewhere, and wondering if I was actually dreaming instead of awake, I simply couldn’t do any posting.

Sincerely,

Ben

Hoodwink

In yet ANOTHER case of hoof-in-mouth, the Mitt3PO campaign is suggesting that America’s relationship with the UK will be stronger with Mitt at the helm because…wait for it…

In remarks that may prompt accusations of racial insensitivity, one suggested that Mr Romney was better placed to understand the depth of ties between the two countries than Mr Obama, whose father was from Africa.

“We are part of an Anglo-Saxon heritage, and he feels that the special relationship is special,” the adviser said of Mr Romney, adding: “The White House didn’t fully appreciate the shared history we have.”

If I were a satire writer, I’d be crying right now – you CAN make this stuff up, but what’s the use when it’s happening IN REAL TIME?

Fun fact: President Obama is descended, on his Mother’s side, from pilgrim Deacon John Dunham of the Plymouth Colony.

Fun fact deux: Romney’s family loved “our” Anglo-Saxon heritage so much that they fled to Mexico.

What Is Best In Campaign Life?

When I heard about Mitt3PO’s twisting of a POTUS quote (AGAIN!), I was not surprised that he did it.  I WAS surprised that a member of the Beltway Media called him out for it (if only in a blog post), and I was REALLY hoping that the Obama campaign, as Stephanie Cutter promised, would have a response to this latest LIE.  Sure enough:

Let Mitt whine about this one all he wants.  While we’re on the subject of whining, let Auntie Gergen, Our Miss-ter Brooks, Nooners, and the rest of the “Why won’t just lie down before his BETTERS already?” chorus continue their endless lamentations – that is best.

Chalets And Charlatans

Speaking of who actually built stuff, Dennis G over at Balloon Juice takes apart Mitt3PO and the myth of Galtian supermen building great things with their bare hands without the accursed federal gubmint lending a hand (or a ducat):

Earlier this year, Mitt held a gathering of his high end donors ($50,000 plus givers) and GOP/wingnut potentates at another estate in Deer Valley. The slush fund party was held at the home of Scott Keller of Keller Investment Properties—a real estate developer who made a fortune off land/development deals in Summit County and around Park City. As these ‘masters of their galtian universe’ gathered to celebrate Mittens, they could look over Deer Valley and think that all the wealth generated in this corner of Utah (and all over the world) was because of them and their brilliance. I suspect that they all (especially Mitt) thought “look what we have built with our own hands—and without the help of anybody else, especially the God Damn government!”

Sure they thought that, but like with most things they think—it was wrong.

In the recent past, say 10-12 years ago, the 2002 Winter Olympics were going to be held in Utah. By 1998 the effort was swamped by a bid rigging scandal.  Folks in control of the Games were pushed out. New grifters were brought in and they brought in Mitt. He hired a team of lobbyists. And for slightly less than a $4 Million investment, these lobbyist convinced a GOP controlled Congress and the Bush Administration to bail out the Olympics with $1.5 Billion picked from the pockets of US taxpayers. Most of that money went to road construction projects around Northern Utah. Of the 10 major infrastructure projects that taxpayers paid for, four were near Deer Valley and Romney’s old home. Taxpayers spent about $70 Million for new infrastructure that increased the property values around Summit County. Deer Valley (and Mitt’s house) was in the middle of the profit zone. By the start of the 2002 Games the development boom was in full swing.

Romney’s patrons could imagine that their property values increased because of their hard work, but without the $1.5 Billion taxpayer bailout to build out the infrastructure in Northern Utah, their land would still be isolated, remote and not worth that much.

Dennis goes on to reveal that even back in the day, suckling at the government teat was the Randian modus operandi:

Turns out that Mitt bought his plot of land in Deer Valley back in 1995. He bought his 9.880 acres from Blue Ledge Corporation, a part of the United Park City Mines CO. Funny story. United Park City Mines CO used to be in the mining business, but then the mines around Park City played out. By 1960 the area was isolated and economically depressed. Still, there were mountains and snow. The folks running the failing mine owned a lot of surrounding real estate. They ditched mining and went into the development business. They decided to build a tourist destination focused on skiing and winter sports. Their problem: they had no cash, no capital and nobody in the private sector would fund their scheme.

Their solution: a $1.2 Million loan (in 1963 dollars) from US taxpayers to fund a gondola, base and summit lodges, a chairlift, a J-bar, and a nine-hole golf course and other elements that would become Treasure Mountain.  It was a success and fueled Billions of dollars of wealth in Utah over the next 50 plus years. But it never would have happened without the Federal Government.

Same as it ever was – feed at the trough for me but not for thee…