Not even Republican women get women voters

Steve Benen:

Ann Romney was in Ohio this morning, sounding a little desperate about the gender gap undermining her husband’s campaign.

Her husband, Mitt Romney, is attuned to women’s struggles, especially their economic struggles, and, Ann Romney said, “I know that Mitt will be there for you.”

“Women, you need to wake up,” she told the largely female audience at a “Women For Mitt” rally in Findlay, Ohio. “Women have to ask themselves who is going to … be there for you. I can promise you, I know that Mitt will be there for you, he will stand up for you, he will hear your voices, he knows how to fix an economy, he’s a can do kind of guy, he’s a turnaround guy.”

[…]

[W]hat Ann Romney may not fully appreciate is why her husband is struggling so badly with women voters. If her remarks today are any indication, Romney seems to think her husband will create jobs, women will get many of those jobs, ergo, women should vote for Romney. Never mind what Obama has done, or how progressive he is on gender equality; Romney’s economic plans should be enough to win women over, notwithstanding the failures of those plans during his one term as governor.

Benen goes on to say that “Romney’s platform is a disaster for women’s health; Romney doesn’t have the spine to endorse the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; Romney won’t endorse the pending Violence Against Women Act; Romney took the coward’s way out when Limbaugh targeted Sandra Fluke; Romney has offered support for a ‘Personhood’ measure that’s so extreme it would ban some forms of birth control; Romney intends to destroy the Affordable Care Act, which would be a huge setback millions of women; and Romney’s running mate has one of the worst voting records on women’s issues in Congress.”

But maybe women can be bought off with the vague promise of better economic times. In fact, Ann’s stridency suggests that women should be bought off with this stuff — and that there’s something wrong with American women who aren’t taking the bribe. A few extra bucks for a return to second-class citizenship? The answer is “no thanks” — and that answer seems genuinely perplexing to the astonishingly out of touch Romneys.

News Roundup for 6/19/12

Romney's conception of the post office

-Headline of the Day-
"That's not 'how government works.'"

Yesterday, MSNBC aired a some footage of Mitt Romney praising the WaWa chain. "I was at WaWas, I went in to order a sandwich. You press a little touchtone keypad -- you touch this, touch this, go pay the cashier -- there’s your sandwich," Mitt said. "It’s amazing. People in the private sector have learned how to compete. It's time to bring some competition to the federal government." Unfortunately, the clip was a tad bit out of context, but not much. Yes, Mittens was praising a system that replaced a worker with a machine (because we all know how much he enjoys firing people), but there was more to it than that. And that's why the right thinks this is the worst thing ever.

Except there's a problem with the outrage. It seems that MSNBC was actually doing Mitt a favor. See, he was using Wawas to illustrate the problem with government. At the chain, you go and tell the robot what you want and you're done. At the post office, things are a living hell.

"I met an optometrist this morning and ... this optometrist wanted to change his billing address," Mitt said. "He moved his office from one side of town to the other, same Zip code, same post office. But he wanted to change his address. He got a form from the federal government. This is so he could get reimbursement from the federal government for the services he provides for the poor and seniors.

"The form he gets to change address is 33 pages long -- 33 pages long. He calls someone to ask how to fill it out. He calls someone in government. They tell him what to do. He sends it in. They sent it back. It wasn't done right, got to do it again, another 33 pages. He calls another person. They tell him what to do. Doesn't get it right the second time. The third time's the charm, though. This takes several months during which time he's not getting the checks for the work he's doing for people who need his care. That's how government works."

You've filled out a change of address form before. Mitt's slinging 100% pure horseshit. None of this is true -- and that's the context the right DEMANDS MSNBC provide. They DEMAND that everyone in America see the true context of Mittens' fascination with a sandwich shop with a stupid name -- a BS story involving a whopper of such extreme proportions that only the most stupid, gullible, or ideologically blinded could possibly believe it.

Asks Steve Benen, "If government is so awful, and the public bureaucracy is such a Brazil-like nightmare, why can't Romney point to real examples instead of passing along nonsense?" The question answers itself, doesn't it?

There's only one thing MSNBC can do to make up for this terrible misrepresentation of Mitt's story -- play it non-stop for 24 hours on all of MSNBC's channels, so everyone gets a real good dose of how stupid Mitt Romney thinks you really are. I'm sure the wingnuts would DEMAND no less. (Maddow Blog)


-No more pencils, no more books-



No more voters' dirty looks... (Truthdig)


-Bonus HotD-
"Millionaire Ann Romney thinks the Obamas are too much the jet-setters."

Ann will be swimming to the London to watch her horse compete in Olympic Horse Ballet, thank you very much. (AMERICAblog)

Stories to Watch: 4/24/12

Kind of feeling a little beat today. I've been getting more exercise than I'm used to -- which I suppose is good, but tiring. Now here's the news...


Ann Romney's seriously screwed up gaffe.


Rightwing hater Bradlee Dean is too extreme even for the Republican Party of Minnesota.


Yet another Romney "pivot."


John Boehner told another lie today.


Wal-Mart demonstrates how to close a barn door after the horse has escaped.


John Thune threatens a tantrum and a government shutdown, because he's smart like that.


Finally, Gingrich may finally succumb to reality and quit.

Related articles

• John Boehner: 'America Can't Live For Four More Years With Barack Obama As President' (mediaite.com)
• High School Principal Resigns In Wake Of Bradlee Dean Debacle (pinkbananaworld.com)
• Bradlee Dean, Rachel Maddow and Conservative Entitlement (thinkprogress.org)
• Coincidence? Republicans oppose affordable student loans, launch another stupid attack on Obama (dailykos.com)

News Roundup for 4/12/12

Hilary Rosen, according to rightwing blogs

-Headline of the Day-
"Conservatives Attack Hilary Rosen For Raising Children As A Lesbian."

You might've heard about the rightwing outrage of the day. It's easy to miss one, since there's always a rightwing outrage of the day and they all sort of run together and who can even keep track of them all?

Anyhoo, it seems that some lady named Hilary Rosen went on the CNN and said that Ann Romney "hasn’t worked a day in her life." Team Romney went all mental over this, saying it was an attack on stay-at-home moms. No one bothered to point out Ann Romney's not your average SAHM, since her husband's a bazillionaire and it's unlikely she doesn't have a household staff. But hey, you take your outrages where you find them.

By the time Romney was done with Rosen, she was a White House adviser and a strategist for the DNC. It's about here that things started to go off the rails. See, she's not. This is a typical Romney "messaging" move -- otherwise known as "complete horseshit." Rosen's more of this kind of party strategist -- i.e., the kind that plays one on TV.

But of course, the rightwing blogosphere is never satisfied with just plain horseshit. They demand horseshit with frosting. So the right went and did some digging and found out that Rosen's a lesbian! A lesbian who's raising kids with another lesbian! It's at this point that I imagine many of them shit themselves.

By this time tomorrow, they'll have connected her to Bill Ayers, Saul Alinsky, and Skynet. (ThinkProgress)


-Cartoon time with Mark Fiore-
Hey kids, Dogboy and Mr. Dan are back and they're here to explain freedom, liberty, and the Supreme Court.


Click for animation

Well that wasn't very family-friendly at all... (MarkFiore.com)


-Bonus HotD-
"House GOP Budget Cuts Taxes For The Rich, Raises Taxes On The Poor."

Least surprising headline ever. (ThinkProgress)

News Roundup for 3/20/12

Newt Gingrich

-Headline of the Day-
"Gingrich says actor Robert De Niro’s racially themed first lady joke 'inexcusable.'"

At a New York fundraiser, famed juggler and Marilyn Monroe impersonator Robert De Niro made the introduction for First Lady Michelle Obama. It was a terrible, shocking crime unparalleled in human history. In his introduction, De Niro said, "Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now, do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?" Everyone laughed, because it's all backwards and absurd and what you call your "comedy."

I know! It's awful right?

Anyway, Newt Gingrich caught wind of this and began firing off victim cards. "What DeNiro said last night was inexcusable, and the president should apologize for him," Noodles said. "It was at an Obama fundraiser, it is exactly wrong, it divides the country. If people on the left want to talk about talk show hosts, then everybody in the country should hold the president accountable when someone at his event says something that is as utterly and terribly unacceptable as what Robert De Niro said."

Because, of course, comments like this are what led to the horrors of institutional white slavery, the WASP holocaust, and... I don't know, the Hindenburg or something. White people have it bad enough without everyone going around pointing out the shameful fact that they're white. Call his wife white will you? Why, prepare to defend yourself, sir!

And this is just like what happened with Sandra Fluke and Limbaugh, as Noodles points out. After all, Rush went on a three day rant about how Fluke was a "slut" and a "prostitute," with guys lined up around the block and all the commies were all up in arms. Now De Niro spends two seconds to call his wife white and not a peep. The hypocrisy!

Know ye, Mr. Big Hollywood liberal, that the Righteous Wrath of Noodles is upon thee! Woe be unto thee as ye are smothered beneath a stack of victim cards! And it be unending, with attacks like unto the number of stars in the sky. No, there will be no surcease, ye will find no respite, until that very day that ye croak out thine final utterance: "Forgiveth me, Noodles!"

Or until Newt figures out that this is all unbelievably lame and he's getting zero traction from it. Then this will be the last anyone ever hears of it. (The Hill, with Gingrich rage-gnome video)


-Wall Street business culture-



"Ethics? What's that?" (Truthdig)


-Bonus HotD-
"Fat Chicago Cop Chokes Kid Out to Rousing Applause of 'Fox Nation.'"

The conservative base explained: they're all pretty much just assholes. (Wonkette)