Mittagedon (Thank you Mr. Romney Redux)

(I am posting a bit on dailykos.com)

A while ago I posted a thank you for Mitt in picking Paul Ryan for the VP candidate.  At that time I was hoping that the Ryan's pick would lead Romney to lay out some of the actual policies that had been stewing in the Tea Party, the public would vote them down, and the GOP might starting turning back towards the center as a result.  At least start putting Grover Norquist at a bit greater distant . . .

Things seemed to be going exactly as I had planned, but now that Mitt is proving to be the ultimate clusterf--- of a candidate things are going awry.  I now fear that when the GOP gets smoked in the election, they are just going to blame it all on Romney being a genuinely crappy candidate, drawing exactly the wrong conclusion again.  This may only lead them to spend four more years screwing the country over by obstructing anything the Obama advocates.

At least Mitt being Mitt is rallying the Democratic base. 

Romney is so generally unlikeable and Obama so vilified by the right-wing media it feels like 50+% of Romney supporters are probably just voting against Obama.   It isn't a very compelling campaign if you have to get voters to vote against the other guy rather than you.  This was why the GOP convention was just a bitch fest without real life.

Perhaps Obama has peaked too early and the eventual pendulum swing will head back to Romney.

The real downside is that I do not believe either candidate has a real plan to address the deficit and the entitlement programs.  Cutting taxes by 20% across the board is purely lunacy, but so is saying the status quo can go on forever.  A trillion dollars in deficit spending a year is an inefficient and untargetted stimulus and it can't go over forever.   The debt is the biggest incertainty faces businesses and the economy. 

I guess time will tell.  When Romney went after the 47% and Ryan's voucher plan got publicity, America by and large recoiled from them.  Hopefully this will suggest at some level to the Right, that we should start with baby steps, like reforming, rather than throwing out programs that worked well for a very long time.  But, the Romney's doubling down on Bushesque tax cuts aimed at benefiting only the richest and international posturing was so destructive that we have lost the chance for meaningful debate.

Oh well.  I thought you were serious for a moment there Mitt.

Scary and Sad (Plus a few comments on the GOP Convention)

Scary and Sad

A huge numbr of voter suppression efforts were launched by the GOP in this cycle and they have sadly succeeded in a number.  This has dramatically affected voter registration in places like Florida and will effectly block numerous people from voting in this cycle.  In each case, the efforts will disenfranchise people in both parties, but the always predominantly Democrats.  Is a shallow, heinous, and particularly anti-American activity.  Anyone who continues to be a member of the party that actively seeks to block the vote should be ashamed of themselves.

It is fine to have a legimate difference of opinion and impose that if you win an election.  But if you've "won" by suppressing the vote even if it manages to pass legally, you have only stolen the election through the most anti-American path, an immoral path.

If for no other reason, the GOP doesn't deserve to be taken seriously as a guardian of freedom and democracy.  It is currently an enemy of democracy.


GOP Convention

Got thankfully got delayed for a day. 

I got to watch less of it than I wanted to, in particular missing the Romney speech.  It sounds as if he did a pretty good job and his bio-pic was supposed to be most excellent.  The few big names I did see were Ryan and Christie, both of whom were probably well received by the GOP base but suffered problems.  Ryan came off as the heir apparent to Tea Party crown, hammering away effectively with a BOAT LOAD OF LIES (Rynocchio should be his new nickname).  Christie spent a lot of time talking about himself and was taking himself too seriously.  I wish he could have been more loving.  (Or wait, were supposed to be respected not loved, as if you can't do both).  By the way, by loving he means using the government to provide aid to the poor.  By respectable he means cutting aid the the poor and cutting taxes for the rich.   Hmmm.  

I'll probably try to catch the Clint Eastwood debacle on You-Tube or something.  Between my 86 year-old Dad and the snips I saw of the 82 year-old Eastwood, I can tell you that there are a lot of ups and downs in the elderly.  Some days they are on and some days they aren't.   I'm pretty sure I'd prefer Eastwood to turn in his driver's license pretty soon, because the bad days aren't looking too good.

I spent some time reading the GOP platform, which is more coherent and useful than anything I got from the convention.  It is kind of long though.  It also sounds more positive.

This Daily Show segment sums up a bit of why this country is screwed up (which is what can happen when one party decides to screw the President at all costs to the country) in his commentary on the Romney speech.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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DNC Convention Suggestions

Shorten it to two days.   You'll do better.  

Don't bad mouth Republicans by saying they are destroying the country, but bring up some of Ryan's lies and bring out what experts actually say about Romney's budget.   One of these lies is who brought us to the brink of defaulting on the debt:  Tea Party House Republicans.  The Republicans spent so much time running down the President that by tempering your language you will reinforce the image of the GOP as angry white guys.

(Probably not possible) Start propoosing some cuts you think are necessary in the future to balance he budget.

Don't fear raising taxes on the rich.  They have had huge tax cuts already.  If you are too chicken, at least point out that the GOP plans further burden the poor in order to give further wealth (and hence power) to the richest people.

Portray some depth on abortion before pointing out if the GOP platform is adopted even the woman who the subject of the most violent and heinous rape you can construct, would no longer be able to ask for an abortion.   (Hint hint - hormonal birth control won't be far behind abortion if the GOP gets control of government).

You got Bin Laden, courageously saved us from a global depression by stepping into the financial markets, enabled millions more to get health insurance, etc.   The GOP has done little in the last four years (which is what happens when you dedicate yourself to obstructing everything and compromising on nothing).

You must get serious about the deficit and if you do, the GOP will be in huge trouble for years to come.

Lastly, let us know how the hell we are going to get out of Afghanistan.  It is time and Romney couldn't even talk about it.