December 22, 2007

• Did you know that Mitt Romney invented the Internet?
• Oh, that Mittens!
• He went on later to admit that the two hunting trips were for kittens and orphans, respectively.
• The fact that he took orphans and kittens for an outing that they otherwise might not have had is a beautiful gesture on his part. Mitt, the Mormon mensch takes kittens and orphans mit.
• Mitt Romney's pursuit of tyrannical power, literally: The candidate's answers to key questions of executive power are beyond disturbing
• Concord Monitor: Anyone but Romney.
• Guy's got no chance.
• R2-D2 Backs Fellow Robot Mitt Romney
• I'm a little sorry to see Mitt go. He's a very good speaker, and his hair is fantastic. He's like the U.S. President is in the movies.
• I thought he was the human Guy Smiley.
• Well, it wouldn't be winter without losing one Mitten.
• Yes, human Guy Smiley is a good one. He was almost beaming during his withdrawal speech. I felt very reassured.
• He probably thinks he'll be VP.
• He doesn't bring much to the table though, does he? Massachusetts wouldn't swing Republican for his sake; Utah is worth only five votes and seems to be resolutely Republican anyway.
• He's like the U.S. President is in the movies. Actually, Letterman's been going to town pumping out union-label jokes about who Mittens looks like. And one of them was "an American President in a Canadian movie". Some good stuff in there.
• I doubt he'll be on the ticket -- by all accounts, Mittens and McCain loathe each other, but McCain and Huckabee are BFF. Huckabee would go a long way to placate the party base. And given McCain's age and not-so-easy life, the no.2 spot needs to be considered very, very carefully.
• Huckabee... that is startling to contemplate, Cap
• Huckabee would go a long way to placate the party base. I wouldn't be too quick to pull the trigger on that. Huck may be a social conservative, but he actually believes in funding public education and helping the poor, which doesn't swing well with economic conservatives at all. There's been a group of well-heeled and powerful Republicans here in Arkansas that funded an organization specifically to keep Huck out of the White House. McCain's going to need a through-and-through conservative in the #2 slot if he really wants conservative and independent support. He's also going to need Hillary Clinton on the Democratic ticket. If either of those two things doesn't happen, I don't think he has a prayer.
• You would know better than I, mct. I did have a couple of chuckles during Huck's speech the other night. The football stuff went over my head completely like another language, but I loved that blonde woman in the crowd behind him going completely effing nuts. And that bit about putting the 'closed' sign on the IRS building always brings a smile to my face, the same smile I have for small, naive children. But what I enjoyed most was the 'we know how to raise our children best' speech -- Huck's certainly done a bang-up job there, producing that sick fuck of a son of his. Good times, good times...
• I've actually met that son before, waited on him a few times at an old job. He strikes you as just the sort of person capable of torturing a dog.
• Yeah, Huck's too nuts for the conservative money lovers, he might hurt profits. I don't see why McCain would pick anyone from his nomination rivals. He just needs to have someone who can pull in more states. And someone good at finance.
• Newt Gingrich FTVP!
• Oh, he's been whitewashed. Don't you worry.
• McCain will definitely need a social conservative, and one far more younger than he, and a 'Washington-outsider' to boot. I see Huck's value as two-fold: first, he can convince the base that "if McCain is OK by me, then he's OK for us", and second, Huck will bring the base that the GOP needs to win. Huckabee is getting more and more exposure nationally, and that religious base is only going to grow. Huck may be, in his own right, only a regional candidate, but tied to a viable national campaign, would do much to shore up the red staters. (Not that the red staters would vote Dem, but that they would be motivated to come out at all.) And McCain still needs to buy Huck out, to finish the race and start his unite-the-party campaign. Yes, Huck is a financial moron, but to that base, that doesn't matter. To the financial and party elite, McCain is a write-off, and they could do with sitting this one out anyway, avoid the cleanup of their own mess, and make a killing in the market until their next go-around. IMHO, anyway. He's also going to need Hillary Clinton on the Democratic ticket. I think that may be a closer reality than a lot of people think. Barring some shake-up event that would really distinguish them, Clinton and Obama are going to keep exchanging blows, and the tie will continue. It may very well come down to the (what are they, supernumary?) delegates -- those Dems at the convention who don't represent anyone, but gained a delegate vote by virtue of their position in the party. Something like 750 of them. Quite a number. And Clinton has those party-insider votes locked up. If it comes down to those supernumaries, Clinton wins, the red staters come out in force, the youth vote that Obama brought in becomes disillusioned and simply walks away, and McCain wins handily. The end.
• Dean said that if the contest were decided by the conference, that some kind of 'arrangement' would have to be made. But I think Obama has marginally more delegates at this point, and makes a stronger showing generally.
• 'arrangement' presumably meaning some kind of decision would be brokered by the party bigwigs.
• Democracy in action.
• Given that Clinton has already tried to undo the similar arrangement the candidates made for the uncounted Florida delegates, I think I can see how that one would go. I wouldn't put it past her heading to court to undo those agreements, and 'let the delegates decide'.
• Jon Stewart’s Farewell to Mitt Romney: “F*c# Y%u!”
• Good. One down. Now, will someone please jump out from behind something and yell, "BOO!!" at McCain? I don't think you'd spend a day in court, and if they did bring you to trial, I'd chip in for your defense fund.
• Right Wing Anoints Mitt Romney The New ‘Face Of Conservatism’
• I don't understand their fascination with him. Saying "Massachusetts Republican" is like saying "Texas Democrat" -- you'd be in the other party in pretty much any other state... ...until you're running for prez, when you magically See The Light and Change Your Views. About everything. Added to which, he's a Mormon, which to evangelicals and fundamentalists is like saying "I believe that Jesus is actually The Great Gazoo." I would have placed him waaaaaaay down the list of potential contenders, had you asked me even six months ago.
• Jared Diamond: Romney Hasn’t Done His Homework
• The Daily Show: "Mitt Romney: A Human Being Who Built That" recounts the self-made businessman's rise from public housing and the Vietnam War, to his presidential self-reconstruction.
• I'd rather be beaten bloody then have to sit through that crap.
• But Leonard Nimoy has such gravitas!
• Romney’s Insensitivity To LGBT People: ‘I Didn’t Know You Had Families’
• Fuckhead.
• Mitt's smirking disaster Smirking Mitt Walking Away From Stuff
• The man is an utter, complete, unmitigated sociopathic asshole. Reading comments was amusing: Romney, the mayonnaise of modern politics; rich white pasty goo in a transparent container. One fella that posted a pic of the press conference after Willard turned his back on the reporters: the image ...[was saved] as "Smirking Treasonous Mittens." STM is amusing, however, I prefer ShitMittens.
• Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters
• I prefer ShitMittens. Me too.
• You Built That: How Mitt Romney Shook Down American Taxpayers For His Welfare Olympics
• A Plane Window into the Soul of the Romneybot
• something, something screen door, submarine
• Mitt Romney Style (Gangnam Style Parody)
• Romney’s Successful Debate Plan: Lying
• Oh ShitMittens. Still being shit, the same shit as the links above from 2007. Sigh.
• Is the ghost of Mitt Romney's ancestor haunting this pub?
• RoboRomney: Mitt Romney agrees with you.
• Mass Revolt: Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts just six years ago. Today he’s so unpopular here he’s barely bothering to campaign in the state. There are reasons for that—and they could spell doom for his presidential campaign.
• Mitt vs. Mitt: the story of two men trapped in one body
• Romulans. So predictably treacherous!"
• TAKE THE 'R' TRAIN, new campaign song
• I only made it halfway through before the Cringe threatened to become terminal, but I gather gist was that because Republican, Romney and Ryan all start with the same letter, you should vote for them.
• ...but so do Repression, Recession, Rotten and Ruin.
• I only made it halfway through You missed the best part.
• I plucked up courage and watched it all. Cringe was rampant, but sheer buffoonery reigned. Yes it really did get better when I thought it couldn't. The Gay card was played.
• The Gay card was played. But "Closet" doesn't start with "R"!
• Romney: ‘We Don’t Have People Who Die Because They Don’t Have Insurance’ ... he must know that that simply is not true, right? Is he terrifyingly out of touch or blatantly lying?
• In his mind he has made it true by saying it is so.
• In his mind he has made it true by saying it is so. Now that's probably the best qualification for a president there could be. Obama needs a little work, but Mittney has it perfected.
• In a comment thread elsewhere somebody quoted statistics that 48,000 people died from lack of medical insurance last year and that there are 49million uninsured people, making the death rate an acceptable 0.1%. Can't argue with that... without suffering drain damage.
• I always liked Mencius, especially the allegory he made about when the baby tottered on the edge of the well, but, I think Robert E. Howard said it best when Conan the barbarian saved a girl instead of the treasure falling off the cliff <:(!)
• The Tea Party Will Win in the End. This is a nation that loathes government and always has. Liberals should not be deluded: The Goldwater revolution will ultimately triumph, regardless of what happens in November.
• Oh yeah - like we all believed in Harold Camper.
• Look out! Behind you!
• America Has Now Met the Many Romneys, and America Knows They Can Get Their Asses Kicked: At the Debate
• Nothing Is Foreign to the Liar Willard Romney Anymore: A Report from the Flippy-Floppy Final Debate of 2012
• Ah now that makes sense; Romney said what he had to to get the Republican nomination, and now is saying what is necessary to get the Presidential vote. Th eonly explanation for this is that he is totally unqualified to be in opposition.
• The Mutt Romney Blues.
• Whedon On Romney
• Video: Romney Locks Up 1980s Lying Car Salesman Vote
• Romney: Elect Me Or House GOP Will Wreck The Economy
• Mr. Burns Endorses Mitt Romney With Help From Seamus The Dog
• This is the best election thingie I've seen, clear and hugely informative and gorgeously presented. Loves me some brilliant data visualisation. 512 paths to the White House
• Sigh, What Can You Say? I knew those Buddhists were up to no good.
• Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
• The Long Con: Mail-order conservatism Jump to page 4 for a look at Romney's relationship with truth.
• Today's Ignoramus-Nation Moment: 'Best Revenge'
• Romney’s douchebag problem
• Not Mitt-specific, but Is the GOP stealing Ohio? - Uncertified, "experimental" software patches have been installed on machines in 39 counties of the key swing state
• Also Is Nate Silver a witch?
• Ah. Re: the voting machine story above The Truth About Voting Machines: What's Real And What's A Nutty Election Fraud Conspiracy I should check my sources more carefully before linking...
• America: Elect! The action-packed journey to US election day in graphic novel form
• The Real Loser: Truth
• Theory: Mitt Romney Brainwashed Himself
• FEAR & LOATHING ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: I Took LSD And Went To See Romney In Yardley
• Unfortunate error for Mitt Romney as ‘testing’ President elect page goes live
• The flagpole makes for a weird slash/path thingee.
• Mitt Romney's Campaign Cancels Staffers Credit Cards In The Middle Of The Night
• Mitt Romney planned Boston Harbor fireworks show that was scotched by election loss
• Disappearing Romney
• Romney Blames Loss on Obama’s ‘Gifts’ to Minorities and Young Voters
• Undeserved gifts and entitlements!! As opposed to the free 'gift's of millions of dollars Romney wanted to give the corporations and the 1%, had he won. Bastard. I will always fondly remember him by the name ShitMittens. Now fuck off and die, Romney.
• Arrrrgh! 'gift's Fumble fingers. I haz 'em.
• This Is Mitt Romney Trying to Do the "Gangnam Dance"