Category Archives: Politics

Romney and forced errors

Politics

I used to think that Mitt Romney was a very smart man. “Used” is the operative word, here.  Now, I no longer think that he is that smart and I feel, vaguely, sorry for him. As a fellow – but almost infinitely poorer –  businessman, that bothers me. If he is not very smart, how did he make so much money? I know that he started with money, but, but, unlike George W. Bush who started with money from his father’s connections and ended up with less, Romney parlayed his wealthy start into making even more money. According to our national mythology, he has to be smart.

When you are the richest guy in the room, it must be hard not to think that you are also the the smartest guy in the room. After all, Romney is rich, he did make lots of money, and to many people – perhaps most – that is what “being successful” means. He is much richer than Obama so he must be smarter. Paul Ryan said it well when he said, “When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey where I could think for myself, decide for myself, define happiness for myself.”  By inference, somebody who does think of themself as stuck in some low station in life – just because they were born black, or grew-up in poverty – is either not very smart or does not have the proper American character (it may not be their fault, but it is not Paul Ryan’s fault, either).

And this is where I feel sorry for Romney. I imagine that Romney thought that once he had a chance to go mano-a-mano with Obama, he – Romney – would have no problem beating him. After all, Obama’s base’s enthusiasm is down, the economy is in the tank and not getting better; how could Romney not beat him? And yet, Romney is slowly losing ground.

Somehow, Obama has a way of making forced errors. It happened to Bill Clinton in South Carolina, it happened to John McCain over the economy meltdown, and now it is starting to happen to Mitt Romney. He should be able to win on the economy but he keeps wandering off to other topics. He is not going to win by making Obama look friendly to radical Muslims! he is not going to win on birth control, and, yet, somehow he ends up there trying to double down on a stupid statement. It must be infuriating to a guy like Romney who is, after all, the smartest guy in the room.

My kind of people

Current Affairs, Politics

 

Watching the two political conventions, I was impressed by the difference in the crowds. Maybe it was the result of the cameramen trying to make them look different, but I doubt it. It is not just the color of Conventioneer skin, the variety of dress vs. the lack of variety, that caught my – and the cameraman’s – eye, it was the tenor. The Democrats seemed to be having fun; the Republicans weren’t.

In 1964, I remember talking to my dad about the Republican National Convention that was being held in San Francisco. (I had been to the 1960 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles – not officially – and Los Angeles was one giant party and I had expected San Francisco to be the same.) My dad thought it would be pretty dull saying that the Republicans just didn’t have as much fun; that the Democrats were big spenders, big partiers, while the Republicans were – for lack of a better word – conservative. It turned out that my dad was right, San Francisco was pretty boring during the Convention.

Even more now than in 1964, the Republicans just seem pissed. And full of hate for Obama. Irrational hate.

Yesterday, Obama visited the Big Apple Pizza somewhere in Florida and the exuberant owner – a Republican – picked up Obama. It turns out that he voted for Obama in 2008 and will vote for him again this year. Apparently the Yelposhere went nuts with Conservatives bad-mouthing the pizarra.

Notice how Yelp only published “reviews” from libtards…just goes to show you how biased coverage of the annointed one is. More hate comes from the dumbocrats than anywhere else.

Food was terrible, atmosphere even worse, emplyees were discourteous, was going to bring 500 students there for stop before and after Disneyworld.  After him, a proclaimed Republican, embracing, bearhugging Obama.  Wouldn’t recommend this restaurant even for Obamas Dog, Bo,  Stay away from this place
john John is listed as being from Rockville, MD. Is he so clueless as to think we will believe this is a real review? or is he just so filled with hate?

Horrible food, dirty, rude staff.  Saw roaches crawling around and flies all over the food in the kitchen.  Don’t waste your time or money, unless you enjoy getting sick. From a guy in Tacoma WA.

The pizza left a bad taste in my mouth…. Tasted like poo…God bless America!! Mark, from Lake Forest IL.

I don’t know what bothers and surprises me the most, the hate or the cluelessness. I guess that it is the hate that most surprises me. I expected it even less than the cluelessness. I just didn’t know that there was that much hate out there. To me, Obama is just not that liberal, although I guess that I would qualify as a libtard (umm…should that have a capital “L”, like Libtard?).

Forgetting Obama, forgetting Romney, just going by the crowd, the ones I want to hang out with is the crowd at the Democratic Convention. The crowd having fun, the crowd backing the guy who I want to win. 

 

Obama as an empty chair

Americana, Politics

The Obama that much of the right is against is invisible because he is not real.

Gingrich put it succinctly,  I think [Obama] worked very hard at being a person who is normal, reasonable, moderate, bipartisan, transparent, accommodating — none of which was true….He was authentically dishonest. Gingrich is saying that what Obama says he believes, and even what he actually does, are cover-ups for some secret agenda. Maybe it is Kenyan anti-colonial behavior, what ever the hell that is;  maybe he is hiding that he a Marxist, or a Socialist; maybe, as Romney inferred, Obama isn’t really an American.

As an aside, When Clint argued with Obama, what I found most surreal, was the imaginary Obama swearing. I want to be clear here, I like swearing, Fuck!, I even like to swear – I am not saying that swearing is evil, or bad – but I have never heard Obama swear. I have never even heard about Obama swearing. If Clint was arguing with Rahm Emanuel or Dick Chaney, it would make sense, but only Clint’s imaginary Obama swears. End aside.

I have never had anybody tell me – personally, face to face, in a conversation –  that Obama is a Kenyan anti-colonialist, but I have had several conversations where people have said that Obama is a Marxist or a Socialist. At first I thought they were saying this to be argumentative or saying that just to piss me off, but I have come to believe that they actually believe it. Not that they have really thought it out, not that they even want to think it out.

Sure, part of it is good old fashioned racism. But a racism that is powered not by Obama’s blackness but by the fact fact that, as a half white man, he has chosen to identify as black, to marry a black woman, to live in the black area of Chicago. He has chosen to be different, to be the other. It is xenophobia as much as racism. On this subject, atleast, many of Obama’s detractors are a little deranged.

And this derangement has led the Republicans to build the major theme of their Convention – with signs and chants – on Obama saying you didn’t build that. To take the reasonable – If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together – and simplifying it to the point of being a lie and then being outraged. Outraged at something Obama didn’t say, outraged at their projection on the invisible Obama.

Obama is punching back

Americana, Politics

When the world needs to do really big stuff, we need an American, Mitt Romney in his acceptance speech. What a snide comment! A passive- aggressive line said in a way that tries to leave no fingerprints. The kind of comment that Michael Dukakis, or Al Gore, or John Kerry, would have ignored  and then been punished for ignoring.

About six months ago, a conservative acquaintance said that this was going to be a dirty election. I don’t remember the details, but he said it in a way that clearly was saying that Obama is a dirty campaigner and would not wage a fair campaign. I agreed (in a way that tried to make it sound like he was talking about the Republican). And I do agree and I am happy about it. I am not particularly happy about the campaign turning negative, but I am very happy that Obama is willing to punch back. It is one of the things that I most like about Obama.

For all his cerebral detachment, his calmness, his – at times – distressing passivity, Obama is a fighter and he is willing to take Romney on.