On Russia Being Banned from 2018 Winter Olympics

D-List Celebutard Tries to Get Ahead By Overstepping Comedic Line Towards Trump

Many progressives have shown difficulty in accepting Donald J. Trump as President of the United States.  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 8th) can not bring herself to say "President Trump".  When former First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is not engaged in chardonnay therapy, she was attempting to front "the Resistance" as part of a inchoate attempt at remaining politically viable.

Celebrities certainly have had a tough time coping with not having their candidate win the White House in 2016.   Of late, there was Robert De Niro's rousing graduation analogy at Brown University that the newly minted Ivy League alums are now entering a world that is a "tragic dumb assed comedy."

Hyperbolic histrionics does not sate some from Hollyweird. Some celebutards feel compelled to push their consternation to the brink.  At the enormous Women who Hate Trump march the day after inauguration, Madonna intimated that she had dreams of bombing the White House after hearing of Trump's victory.  Not to be outdone, D-List comedienne Kathy Griffin posed for publicity shoots holding a bloody facsimile of America's 45th President of the United States, which she then posted on social media. Smooth move Ex-Lax.

No doubt, Griffin thought that she would be playing to her progressively oriented base and perhaps even make it off the D-List through political notoriety. After all, her bloody head pose echoed the antipathy of "The Resistance". She had the reputation of being a crass, shock type comedienne. Moreover, she could claim artistic freedom and the need to challenge boundaries in the name of comedy.  Not so much.

Consider the comedic rodeo rider who dared wear an Obama mask while maintaining the ring which caused a week's controversy and caused him to be put into diversity training. It did not help that Griffin's  graphic art echoed actual executions as infamously performed by ISIS. The country still seems to have some respect for the office of President.  One should not discount the reputation of the messenger.  Griffith is not known for taking overt political stances, and this stunt may have been seen as distasteful grandstanding by an opportunist.

Social media turned against Kathy Griffin for her ghoulish pose.  Sponsors and venues quickly started to cancel on her. Even Senator Al Franken (D-MN) was said to be backing away from a associations with with Griffin.  The Secret Service may now be quite investigating Griffin's graphic wise crack. 

What's more, is that Griffin's grotesquerie made Mr. Trump somewhat sympathetic, even to ardent opponents of the Trump Administration.   Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) could point to the gross graphic and condemn the repugnant and vile message in his quixotic hope for civic civility.  Mr. Trump tweeted in response to the controversy that his eleven year old son was having a hard time with this sick humor.

When it was clear that the public tide had turned against Griffin, she quickly posted on Instagram an apology.





Liberal leaning news organizations barely covered the controversy because one of the news most important powers is the power to ignore the inconvenient or incongruent.

It is difficult to discern the best course of action.  On the one hand, while I strive to be forgiving and let bygones to be bygones, it seems inappropriate to think "Aw shucks, it was nothing."   This is not a typo tweet like "covfefe"  or a knee jerk post which one regrets immediately after hitting the send button.  TMZ showed Griffin in a full blown photo shoot, with lighting, make-up and props. This was pre-meditated so to magnanimously dismiss it invites future pot shots from an opposition which seems intent to throw anything up on the wall to see if it sticks.

On the other hand, Mr. Trump has displayed a churlish reputation in the past and has used antagonisms with others (Rosie O'Donnell, Megyn Kelly, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, et ali.) as a means to brandish himself while sullying others.  The Trump Administration needs to put some wins on the board in Washington aside from a SCOTUS pick and reversing 18 prior Administrative Actions.

May Kathy Griffin be benched on the D-List without needlessly encouraging others to go down that same repugnant road. 

Hillary Clinton: Half of Trump Supporters Are "Basket of Deplorables"

At a recent fundraiser in New York, Democrat Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D-NY) labeled half of Donald Trump supporters as being a "Basket of Deplorables". 

In the 2012 Election cycle, Republican Presidential nominee ex Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) was ridiculed for noting at a private fundraiser that 47% of Americans pay no taxes so they would be less inclined to support him.  First Lady/Senator/Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems to be reverting to political correctness to be the wedge. 

Clearly, this is going to be an ugly general election campaign.  But the need for a progressive politician to hammer away at politically correct points rather than run towards the center shows that Ms. Clinton still may have to rally her base.  

And based upon her gross generalizations, she's pretty base to begin with.

Update 09/10 5 pm  EDT

After a day of public outrage and virulent viral internet memes aimed against her, Hillary Clinton tried to walk back her infamous "Basket of Deplorables" characterization.

“Last night I was ‘grossly generalist,’ and that’s never a good idea. I regret saying ‘half’ — that was wrong. But let’s be clear, what’s really ‘deplorable’ is that Donald Trump hired a major advocate for the so-called ‘alt-right’ movement to run his campaign and that David Duke and other white supremacists see him as a champion of their values.”

That  "apology" did nothing to quell the cantakerousness of critics like Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro.

So Much for a Gracious GOP Under Trump

Mitt Romney on Primary Phonies

The 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) had harsh words towards 2016 GOP Presidential front-runner Donald Trump.  This is quite a different tune than when Romney sought the Manhattan Mogul's endorsement in 2012. While Romney is an unlikely attack dog for the establishment, so be it.

Expect Trump to highlight that inconvenient truth, along with proto-typical bombast disparagements of "Loser" and "Nasty guy" in Trump's afternoon answer.

This is primary politics.  While Romney is not a Republican candidate in this cycle, he does have a respected voice which he is utilizing to amplify the Republican Establishment's repulsion towards Trump's politicking. What is telling is the thin-skin which Trump displays in quickly coming back to answer Romney's rebuke.  If Romney is an "irrelevant loser", then why have a presser to respond? 

In his post Super Tuesday results event, Trump tried to take a more Presidential tact, complimenting the hard work of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in winning his home state of Texas. During that presser with an adulating audience, Trump only mildly jabbed at Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).  Some voices in the Republican friendly media speculated that he might be changing into projecting a more statesmanlike persona.

Trump has benefited from an angry electorate along with several early voting states with open primaries, drawing in cross-over voters.  Trump has a penchant of saying outrageous things, which has not proved fatal.  However, the weird way that Trump handled the oblique endorsement by David Duke and promoting Mussilini quotes may have hurt him in Minnesota (where there was no early voting).  Romney adding some jabs from outside of the primary ring may soften up Trump with those undecided. Trump-eteers will ignore any criticism of their dear leader and will focus their two minute hate to the latest loud critic. 

Mitt Romney may have made some fatal mistakes (like not being hard hitting in later debates and his buggy digital GOTV platform) which contributed to losing the 2012 election to President Barack Obama. But Romney has a reputation of being an honorable man.  Something serious must have troubled him to speak out in the 2016 Election Cycle so strongly against primary phonies. Romney should expect some painful counter-punches, which may epitomize both the appeal to some and the alienation for others of Trump candidacy.

Mitt Romney on Paul Ryan

Among the politicians who are pressing House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI 1st) to reconsider his refusal to run to replace Speaker John Boehner is former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA), his running mate in the 2012 Presidential Campaign.

The driving passion to which Romney referred is Paul Ryan's aspiration to radically reform the tax code during his possible six year term as Chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. 

An added factor is that Mr. Ryan is a family man with young children , who goes back to his home district each weekend.  For him, the problem with the contemporary Speaker's role is that it includes lots of fundraising, which would mean time away from family.

The revolt against Boehner which prompted his resignation and the bloc voting by the Freedom Caucus which made Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy's bid to become Speaker uncertain makes it seem like the Speaker's Race is a Game of Thrones.  Even Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) who has great respect for his colleague Paul Ryan understands why he may not want the Speaker's job.

Representative Ryan flew back to Wisconsin over the Columbus Day recess to spend time with his family and root for the Green Bay Packers back in the land of Cheeseheads.  Presumably, Ryan will weigh the needs of his family along with the demands of his party.

The Huckster on Running for Higher Office

Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) has distinguished himself as a candidate for the Republican nomination in 2016 by coming out of the gate attacking his fellow Republican opponents.

 Perhaps it was lost for Gov. Huckabee on the mythical "third tablet" of Mount Sinai.

Several of the top tiered GOP presidential candidates, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) are "moonlighting" for the GOP nod as they continue their elected roles in the U.S. Senate.  It should be noted, however, that Senator Rubio has vowed not to seek re-election for the Florida Senate seat as he threw his hat in the ring for President.

Obviously, Governor Huckabee is not observing the Reagan 11th commandment "Thou shall not speak ill of thy fellow Republican".

Be that as it may, we need not judge Gov. Huckabee on words alone, as this is not his first time to the presidential rodeo.  

It is true that Governor Huckabee was not holding office when he ran for President in 2008, as his term in Little Rock expired January 8, 2007.  However, the telling fact is whether "The Huckster" applied the same standard to his 2008 opponents as he did to the current crop of candidates.  

Of Governor Huckabee's many swipes against his opponents in the 2008 cycle, he was remembered for spreading anti-Mormon innuendo against former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) rather than taking pot shots against Senator John McCain (R-AZ) for holding office while running for President.

If Governor Huckabee folksy populist quest for higher office is not successful, there is little chance of going back to his gig at Fox News, after trash talking "the trashy" women on Fox News Channel,

Huckabee POTUS DREAMing?

Former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR) has been making the media rounds purportedly to publicize his new book "Gods, Guns, Grits and Gravy" (2015).  However, the PR campaign is laying a predicate for an all but announced run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

During an appearance  on "Meet the Press", Gov. Huckabee exclaimed: “You don't punish a child for something his parents did," regarding the children of illegal immigrants (a.k.a. DREAM Act kids).  

But when Gov. Huckabee addressed a crowd of Christian conservatives in Richmond, Virginia, he Gov. Huckabee tried to temper these sympathetic sentiments towards DREAMers with some red meat for borders, language and culture. 

Those clarifying comments sound sweet to conservatives, but to put it in homespun terms, isn't this after the barn door has already opened. Governor Huckabee is fond of telling a true story about an Arkansan DREAMer who went on to become high school valedictorian.  But how does he feel about the flood of undocumented migrants who were admitted last year under de facto amnesty and 94% of them never bothered to report to their Immigration hearings?  How does Gov. Huckabee feel about Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch ignoring established employment law so that illegal immigrants can work in America?

Governor Huckabee seems to have slightly refined his view on the DREAM Act from when he spoke with Laura Ingraham in 2010 in which he insisted that treatment of DREAMers should be a state issue.  Since the Supreme Court has ruled that the Federal Government has primacy on immigration issues, the Federal Government must enforce laws on the books regarding allegiance, employment and education for citizenship.

Immigration is going to be a flash point in the Republican race for President.  There are establishment proto candidates like former Governor Jeb Bush (R-FL) who embrace liberal immigration and former Governor Mitt Romney who has evolved and advocated that the GOP should swallow hard and succumb to the inevitable by passing comprehensive immigration reform.  On the other end of the spectrum, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) would neither cotton to an open borders immigration amnesty nor a DREAM Act which penalizes legal immigrants who played by the rules.  

It sounds like Governor Huckabee is trying to split the baby by allowing for illegal immigration accommodations yet advocating an aspirational secure the borders and invigilate immigrants.  That sounds like DREAMing in more ways than one.  

Punctuating  his immigration opinions before the Family Foundation, Governor Huckabee proclaimed:  “If that bothers you to the point that you’d say, ‘I’d never vote for you,’ then you’re never going to vote for me, because that’s something on which I will not recant. Gov. Huckabee's unequivocal utterance may be prophetic, considering the anti-immigration ardor in Iowa today.

H/T: Henry Payne 

Mainstream Media Distorts Money and Politics

Not even progressives are buying the "Poor Off" between former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Vice President Joe Biden, two leading liberals for the 2016 Democrat presidential nomination. 




However, once the heir apparent to the White House is apparent, the Lamestream Media will be back to demonizing the Republican rich.

Outrageous Obama Incivility

President Obama with Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer

As the new fiscal year looms without a budget passed, and the debt ceiling debate on the horizon, the Obama Administration ought to be building ad hoc coaltions to prevent the United States going off the fiscal cliff.  Yet when President Obama's Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer went on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper", the White House pressed a bombastic bric-a-brac against Republicans.

Having an Obama  senior spokesman call Republican opponents "suicide bombers" is beyond the pale of civil political discourse coming  from the White House.  These verbal bomb throwing  through the auspices of the Oval Office neither builds Congressional coalitions vital for governing (as opposed to campaigning) and this infelicitous  and incindiary analogy shows a shocking lack of civility.  In the same day, Obama White House Press Secretary Jay Carney dredged up birther barbs to mock Republicans for wanting to defund Obamacare.

After the near assassination of former Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ 8th) in January, 2011, President Obama made a grandiose speech at the Together We Thrive rally  in Tucson which memorialized the fallen in  the atrocity where President Obama proclaimed:

But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -– at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do -– it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.  

President Obama then rightfully noted that a "more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation."  So how do Dan Pfeiffer's inflamatory remarks against ideological opponents fit into this call for civility?

Perhaps President Obama gave himself a waiver on civility.  After all, President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign persisted on an unsubstantiated insuniation that Republican Presidential Nominee Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) was a felon for alleged misrepresentations when he was at Bain Capital.  Political campaigns ain't beanbag, so rough and tumble rhetoric is not out of the ordinary, particularly for a politician who can not win without smearing his opponent.  But governing is different than campaigning.

While Pfeiffer's smear of his opponents as suicide bombers is outrageous and unwise, it is not the only example of inflamatory accusations that have the imprimatur of Obama's Oval Office. Democrat Congressional leaders such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA 8th) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have been wont to refer to uncooperative Conservative Republican legislators as "Arsonists".  Senior Obama White House Advisor Dan Pfeiffer echoed this arsonist accusation and kidnappers comparison against Republicans.  Or progressive radio host Thom Hartman who compared Senator Ted Cruz's  (R-TX) filibuster to "Taliban-styled suicide bombings".   Kind of sounds like the Obama White House talking points were passed out.

These slanderous characterizations from the Obama White House give Democrats surrogates in the Lamestream Media license to copy scurrilous phrases.  This was quickly spread by  MSNBC's Chris Matthews did when the former Democrat staffer turned broadcaster asked  Representative Scott Perry (R-PA 4th) why the Republicans want to hold the country "hostage".

The Obama Administration seems intent to demonize and try to delegitimize their opponents, ala Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. But Pfeiffer, Pelosi and Reid are not alone in voicing vitrolic language against idelogical opponents.  Senator John McCain referred to Senator Cruz and Senator Rand Paul as "wacko birds", while Congressman Peter King  critiqued Senator Cruze as a crazy, fraudster and suicidal.  While these invectives abrogate Reagan's Eleventh Amendment, they are not as vial as a voice of the President of the United States in a time of real Islamist jihadi terrorism comparing Republicans to suicide bombers. 

It sounds like the White House communication staff need to take a crash course at the National Institute for Civil Discourse.   After all, the NICD launched a website "YourWordsCount.org" which reminds readers of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's word of wisdom: "Civility costs nothing and buys everything."   But that would also mean that they would be reminded of dear leader Obama's quote:

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

So much for shaping the future in an uplifting way.

In the aftermath of the Tucson shooting, the elite Liberal media were quick to lambast Tea Party Conservatives, particularly former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, for  dangerous symbolism on  pamplets which "targeted" politcally vulnerable  Democrat districts like Giffords' with crosshairs.  Ironically, the Democrat Congressional Camapign Committee used bullseyes for their targeted districts.    But as Chris Plante would put it: "If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all."

From a partisan political perspective, the Obama Administration's beyond the pale references to Republicans clearly demonstrates that the Obama White House does not want to deal and is pushing to peg Republicans with any blame for a government shutdown.  They may be calculating their strategy premised on the 1995-1996 government shutdowns which allegedly hurt Republicans (even though that was not demonstrated at the ballot box).   But according to the latest Pew Poll, both Democrats and Republicans would be blamed for a government shutdown.

In the scheme of things, political blame is inconsequential compared to the quantum corsening of civil discourse that has been displayed by White House operatives Dan Pfeiffer and Press Spokesman Jay Carney. Such uncivil exchanges are unworthy of authority in this Constitutional Republic.

Mitt Romney on Virtue

Teasing Electoral Adjustments

As the election results roll in, it appears that it is not a clear cut decision by the American people.  In the Presidential Race, several battleground states are razor thin margins, with Ohio again being the lynchpin for the decision.  Democrats seem poised to increase their numbers in the Senate, yet Republicans may increase their majority in the House of Representatives.  That is a very mixed bag.

...

President Obama managed to get re-elected with a higher unemployment than when he initially took office, losing support in his overall popularity and winning a second term with fewer electoral votes. President Obama may have to adjust after re-election to blaming the incumbent rather than former President George W. Bush for his woes.  Americans will also have to adjust after the election to a Chief Executive who no longer needs to worry about pleasing people for re-election.

READ MORE at DCBarroco.com

Prepubescent Zombie Agiprop Allegedly for Obama

The Goodly, Silverstein and Partners ad agency from San Francisco has launched and campaign "The Future Children Project" to re-elect President Barack Obama. The public relations positioning claims: Re-electing President Obama is a momentous decision that will require every single voter. What would the children of the future say if we let them down this November? 

 Considering the aforementioned objective, one wonders why Goodly, Silverstein & Partners would release a starkly filmed, épater la bourgeoisie ad out of the mouths of babes at this time.

  The lyrics of this somber song sung by kids are both trite and trying:

Imagine an America
Where strip mines are fun and free
Where gays can be fixed
And sick people just die
And oil fills the sea.

 We don’t have to pay for freeways! Our schools are good enoughGive us endless warsOn foreign shoresAnd lots of Chinese stuff.

 We’re the children of the futureAmerican through and throughBut something happened to our countryAnd we’re kinda blaming you

We haven’t killed all the polar bears
But it’s not for lack of trying
Big Bird is sacked
The Earth is cracked
And the atmosphere is frying

Congress went home early
They did their best we know
You can’t cut spending
With elections pending
Unless it’s welfare dough.

We’re the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And we’re kinda blaming you.

Find a park that is still open
And take a breath of poison air
They foreclosed your place
To build a weapon in space
But you can write off your au pair.

It’s a little awkward to tell you
But you left us holding the bag
When we look around
The place is all dumbed down
And the long term’s kind of a drag.

We’re the children of the future
American through and through
But something happened to our country
And yeah, we’re blaming you.

You did your best
You failed the test.

Mom and Dad
We’re blaming you!

However the deliver is zombie-like. When the lyrics mention "au pairs" and "foreclosures", it gives an impression that the innocent singers were given agiprop to mouth. It reminds observers of the shameless way that socialist dictatorships shamelessly exploit children to sell their workers paradise. Moreover, it calls to mind many instances during the Obama reign when youths are mobilized by teachers to spout Obamaisms. 

READ MORE at DCBarroco.com

The Payoff of Obama's Green Bets?

One of then candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL)'s  promises when he ran for President in 2008 was that he would create five million green jobs.




So as part of the Feburary 2009 stimulus (a.k.a. Porkulous) of $847 Billion, almost 6%, or $50 Billion,  was earmarked for shovel ready green energy, to be monitored by Vice President Joe Biden.  That was a pretty significant "investment" in energy from solar, wind, geothermal and maybe unicorn flatulence.

Despite anemic job growth during the Obama so called Recovery, America has come nowhere near creating five million green jobs.  But to justify what they have Representative Darrell Issa's (R-CA 49th) Government Reform and Oversight Committee hearing in June 2012 explored how the Obama Department of Labor defines "green jobs".



My favorites were floor sweeper at a Green manufacturer, antiques dealer and an Oil Lobbyist who advocates green issues.

Many critics of Porkulous suspected that it was an unwise expenditure from the Federal Government that acted like a slush fund for the Obama Administration's favorite groups and contributors.  The cronyism and corruption in green transportation can be seen in Amtrak, supposed High Speed Rail projects and most pointedly in green energy projects (FutureGen coal gassification and Solyndra).

During the First Presidential Debate in Denver, Republican Presidential nominee Governor Mitt Romney asserted that President Obama did not pick just with winners and losers with $90 Billion in tax breaks but that the incumbent picks losers.




Let's see how President Obama's bets on green energy companies have been paying off.

To use the Obama 2012 forward (sic) sounding campaign parlance,  are you ready to go all in with your great grandchildren's inheritance or are you going to hedge your bets on November 6th?

Political Views from Bleacher Bums?

Since politics is my favorite contact sport and this is the time for the championship match, I was interested in the chart that tried to quantify political persuasions based on sports affinity.

It was no surprise to have WNBA fans and European Soccer fans skew to the left.  After First Lady Michelle Obama was booed at a NASCAR event promoting assistance to military families, it is not shocking that automotive racing fans are driven to the right.






But the way other sports fans political affinities fell were somewhat unexpected. I would not have naturally associated Ultimate Fighting or Extreme Sports as have such Democrat fans.  It took me off guard that LPGA followers and Olympic aficionados would be reliable Republicans.

Considering the popularity of football, it seems natural for politicians to make appeals to gridiron fans. Both President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney want to make appearances on the NFL Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints the night before the general election.

Mr. Obama has made several appearances on MNF, but his hallmark was in late 2006 as the then newly elected first term Senator from Illinois was toying with running for the Oval Office.






Here's hoping that the sentiments of the Bleacher Bums from Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois is to mix a sports metaphor (yet apt for Mr. Obama) par for the course.

h/t: Eric Callie

Voices of Defiance for Romney

[L] Meatloaf and [R] Gov. Mitt Romney in Defiance Ohio [photo: AP]

Republican Presidential Nominee Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) held a rally which drew a crowd of 12,000 supporters in Defiance, Ohio which has only 16,000 residents.  One of the highlights of the event was when Meatloaf voiced his support for Governor Romney.  This endorsement was capped by a helping of "America the Beautiful"  served family style.




Meatloaf's enthusiastic but unconducted warbling seemed reminiscent of Governor Romney's earnest but off tune singing of "America the Beautiful" as portrayed in an Obama 2012 summer  attack ad.




 Of course, neither right minded crooner is any match for Celebrity-in-Chief Barack Obama did at Showtime at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.




 Maybe a singing career is something that the Maui Wowie can fall back on come January 21st, 2013

Analysis of the Boca Raton Third Presidential Debate

[L] Gov. Mitt Romney [C] Moderator Bob Schieffer [R] President Barack Obama

This year’s cycle of Presidential debates have all been influential and informative, but in different ways that one would expect. This is especially true about the slow poison that was passively administered in Boca Raton, Florida...

 Everyone expected that the Foreign Policy debate in Boca Raton, Florida would concentrate on the Benghazi blunder and candidates trading barbs. In fact, Boca Raton debate Moderator Bob Schieffer started the candidate forum with a couple of wide open questions about Benghazi seemingly begging for blood to be drawn.

But Mitt Romney did not take the bait. In fact, he pretty much deferred that issue. Later in the forum, Romney expressed support for some of Obama’s foreign policy as he differentiated is own vision to defend democracy and pursue peace through strength.

 Many conservatives stomachs churned, suspecting that their standard bearer was blowing it. But after a few rounds of questioning, it dawned on many right-leaning political observers that Romney’s deferential debate performance was what Bill Sammon would call Strategery...

 I watched the debate with a bunch of right minded partisans gathered for the Battleground State Talkers Tour event. Assuredly, the audience would have preferred seeing a pugilistic performance from Romney. But in my estimation, Romney’s Boca Raton debate performance was a slow poison for his opposition.

It was not satisfying for someone who’s favorite contact sport is politics, but I think that is was a successful tactic to take. In less than two weeks, it should become clear if the “strategery” was successful in electing the 45th President of the United States.

 READ MORE at DCBarroco.com

Billy Graham on Character

 

 On October 11th, 2012, GOP Presidential Nominee Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) visited Billy Graham in his home in western North Carolina.

 During the 30 minute meeting with the 94 year old Reverend Graham and his son Franklin Graham, Mr. Romney asked for their prayers while the elder Graham recognized the Governor's values and high moral convictions.

[L] Gov. Mitt Romney and [R] Rev. Billy Graham

Shortly after the meeting, the Billy Graham Evangelical Association dropped language on its website referring to Mormonism as a cult.

 

The Obama Second Term Agenda

Saying a lot by saying little to nothing, but more than zero.

Whoopsie--The View on Whoopi's Failed Mormon Smear

Ann Romney taped an appearance on ABC's The View. When the visit got serious (4:14 mark of video), panelist Whoopie Goldberg posed a poignant question to the prospective First Lady:

WHOOPI GOLDBERG: As first lady, if you get the job, it’s going to entail a lot of things, and one of those things is going to be talking to the mothers whose children are coming home in bags, you know, from wars. Now, I know -- I believe that your religion doesn’t allow you to go fight.

ANN ROMNEY: No, that's not correct. We have many, many members of our faith that are serving in armed services.

GOLDBERG: Okay, um, I say that because when I read about your husband, what I had read, and maybe you can correct this is that the reason that he didn’t serve in Vietnam was because it was against the religion. That’s what I read.

 ROMNEY: No, that's not correct. He was serving his mission and you know my five sons have also served missions. None served in the military.

It seems that Ms. Goldberg confused the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (a.k.a. Mormons) with Quakers, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists or other small American Christian pacifist oriented denominations.

 Mrs. Romney was astute to highlight all of her sons being called to mission (through their church) which helped mature them and them better citizens. It tacitly acknowledged Mormon culture while accentuating the virtues from the practice.

 Perhaps Goldberg was not at all ignorant about Latter Day Saint practice of faith.  Her query gave credence to the chicken hawk charge (never served in uniform) as well as implying strange religious practices while conjuring notions of body bags from future American "aggression".

Whoopi's whoopsie strikes me as a ham-handed attempt to play the Mormon card.  This sort of ad hominem attack seems like a desperate ploy to bolster a faltering incumbent by scaring unconvicted low-information voters with borderline religious bigotry.  It could also have been foray to bog the Romney campaign to explain subtleties of Mormon theology, which can differ with most traditional Christian creeds.

Of course, First Lady Michelle Obama and President Obama got comparative softball questions when they were last on the View on September 25th, rather than meet with any world leaders after addressing the United Nations.   That was when "Barack" said that he was just eye candy. Yet that fluff View interview still made some important news because Mr. Obama's careful statement about the attack on the Benghazi consulate contradicts the supposed Rose Garden "Act of Terrorism" claim at the Hofstra debate.


Obviously the producers of "The View" were remiss at doing background briefs for their coterie of star chatters.  But progressive minds also seemed to have missed the memo from Chicago about now eschewing negative advertising.  Karl Rove observed that the Obama campaign has pulled negative ads in swing states and now is only showing positive pieces touting Obama's accomplishments.  It seems that the debates have wrecked $100 million negative advertising blitz on opponent Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA).   Maybe the Obama campaign is relying upon their media surrogates to continue doing the dirty work as well as the puerile social media Binders of Women meme.

h/t: Real Clear Politics