Obama: There Are Not a Lot of People Out There
Who Think They Are Victims

post from Crooks and Liars on 19 September 2012 10:00:30 PM. © Crooks and Liars

President Barack Obama sat down to chat with David Letterman on Tuesday, and while they discussed more than just politics, it seemed that his response to the leaked Romney fundraiser video was on everyone's mind. The video had over 2 million views on Monday alone.

Taking Mitt Romney to task, Obama said that "There are not a lot of people out there who think they are victims," and that voters want to make sure that their president is "not writing off big chunks of the country."

The secretly taped video showed the Republican presidential nominee describing "47 percent of the people" as Obama supporters who depend on government and believe they are victims. Romney said it is not his job "to worry about those people," referring to what he called Obama's locked-in supporters who believe they are "entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it."

"My expectation is that if you want to be president, you have to work for everyone, not just for some," Obama said during Letterman's "Late Show."

Romney has since said he made his point "inelegantly" in trying to describe differing visions for the nation.

Obama said people understand that the presidential candidates will make mistakes on the campaign trail. He said that includes one he regrets from 2008, when audio from one of his own private fundraisers had him saying that some residents of depressed rural areas get bitter and "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them."

Having said that, Obama added, "One thing I've learned as president is that you represent the entire country."

The president and Letterman also chatted about lighter topics, with Obama joking about the Florida pizza restaurant owner who lifted him off the ground in a bear hug last week. `'I think he fixed something in my back," Obama said.

The two also exchanged compliments on their appearances:

"You look good," Obama said.

"You haven't seen me naked," Letterman said.

Obama replied: "We're going to keep it that way."

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Vaginas Are Sperm Depositories and Other Scary
Things About the State of New Yorks Sex Ed Curricula

post from Firedoglake on 19 September 2012 10:00:25 PM. © Firedoglake

Along with many others children, teens, and adults, this week I went back to school, too. I started teaching Introduction to Human Sexuality at a local college, something I haven't done in about six years. In an effort to gauge what my students had[...]

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Standard & Poor's lowers New Jersey state credit
outlook

post from Daily Kos on 19 September 2012 10:00:04 PM. © Daily Kos

Chris Christie feels his man boobs in 2012 GOP convention But enough about me, what do you think about me?More bad news for New Jersey, and for Gov. Chris Christie:

The latest dose of bad news was delivered by Standard & Poor?s, which Tuesday lowered its credit outlook for New Jersey from stable to negative.
While Standard & Poor?s did not change the state?s AA- rating ? one of the worst among the states ? it warned the more drastic step of a lower rating loomed if Christie?s nearly 8 percent growth in revenue failed to materialize. [...]
"We revised the outlook to reflect our view of the risk of revenue assumptions we view as optimistic, continued reliance on one-time measures to offset revenue shortfalls, and longer-term growing expenditure pressures," John Sugden, a credit analyst for Standard & Poor?s, said.

The optimistic revenue assumptions part is a direct reference to Christie's implausible budget assumptions, especially as it relates to his insistence that only further tax cuts can possibly cause the magical money unicorn to once again poop cash and rainbows across his great state. For Republicans, this was proof enough of Christie's seriousness to make him one of the keynote speakers at their recent convention.

Which, as it turns out, seems to be a trend. After all, one of the people most responsible for the national credit downgrade was Paul Ryan and his merry band of fellow fiscal anarchists?and for his own valiant attempts in the field of completely implausible budget numbers, he was rewarded with the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket.

In the current Republican Party, gross fiscal incompetence has become a big selling point. And if your incompetence results in actual, real-world economic damage, you'll be considered as leadership material.

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It Be International Talk Like A Pirate Day!

post from Docudharma - Front Page on 19 September 2012 09:35:18 PM. © Docudharma - Front Page

The Pastafarian Service Council wants to remind you that today, September 19th, be International Talk Like A Pirate Day.As Slushy the Polar Bear says-"Only you can prevent Global Warming. Arrgh."Ahoy mateys. It be Cap'n Hank Bloodbeard[...]

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Daily Kos Elections Polling Wrap: A data-heavy
Wednesday, on balance, favors the Democrats

post from Daily Kos on 19 September 2012 09:30:04 PM. © Daily Kos

We have a new track record!

Wednesday's edition of the Wrap logged more unique polls than any other day on the 2012 electoral calendar thus far. Below you will find (as carpal tunnel sets in for your Wrap curator) 39 different polls on the presidential and downballot races, battles that are now less than 50 days away from their conclusion.

And, looking at the big picture analysis, one has to conclude that the Democrats clearly got the better of the day. For fans of Mitt Romney, the hard reality is that the electoral college map already made it appear that their guy had to draw something akin to an inside straight. And today's polling underscores just how difficult it is going to be for Romney to do so.

Meanwhile, the growing narrative that the Senate is slipping away from the GOP will only be buttressed by today's polling. Several polls, digging even deeper, raise some serious eyebrows and invite speculation that the House, as well, could be in play.

Proper analysis of the big picture awaits you below the fold. For now, however, on to the numbers:

PRESIDENTIAL POLLING:

NATIONAL (AP/GfK): Obama 47, Romney 46 (LV); Obama 50, Romney 40 (RV)
NATIONAL (Gallup Tracking): Obama 47 48, Romney 46 45
NATIONAL (Ipsos/Reuters Tracking): Obama 48, Romney 43 (LV); Obama 49, Romney 38 (RV)
NATIONAL (Pew): Obama 51, Romney 43 (LV); Obama 51, Romney 42 (RV)
NATIONAL (Rasmussen Tracking w/Leaners): Obama 48, Romney 48
NATIONAL (YouGov): Obama 49, Romney 44

CALIFORNIA (Field Poll): Obama 58, Romney 34
COLORADO (CBS/Quinnipiac): Obama 48, Romney 47
FLORIDA (Fox News): Obama 49, Romney 44
GEORGIA (InsiderAdvantage--R): Romney 56, Obama 35
MAINE (Maine Peoples Resource Center): Obama 54, Romney 37
MAINE (PPP): Obama 55, Romney 39
MASSACHUSETTS (MassINC for WMUR): Obama 59, Romney 31
MICHIGAN (CNN/ORC): Obama 52, Romney 44 (LV); Obama 51, Romney 42 (RV)
NEW HAMPSHIRE (Rasmussen): Romney 48, Obama 45
OHIO (Fox News): Obama 49, Romney 42
VIRGINIA (CBS/Quinnipiac): Obama 50, Romney 46
VIRGINIA (Fox News): Obama 50, Romney 43
VIRGINIA (We Ask America--R): Obama 49, Romney 46
WISCONSIN (CBS/Quinnipiac): Obama 51, Romney 46
WISCONSIN (Marquette Law School): Obama 54, Romney 40 (LV); Obama 54, Romney 39 (RV)

DOWNBALLOT POLLING:

CT-SEN (Univ. of Connecticut): Chris Murphy (D) 37, Linda McMahon (R) 33
FL-SEN (Fox News): Sen. Bill Nelson (D) 49, Connie Mack IV (R) 35
ME-SEN (Maine Peoples Resource Center): Angus King (I) 44, Charlie Summers (R) 28, Cynthia Dill (D) 15
ME-SEN (PPP): Angus King (I) 43, Charlie Summers (R) 35, Cynthia Dill (D) 14
MA-SEN (MassINC for WBUR): Elizabeth Warren (D) 47, Sen. Scott Brown (R) 42
OH-SEN (Fox News): Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) 47, Josh Mandel (R) 40
TX-SEN (Frederick Polls for the Sadler campaign): Ted Cruz (R) 49, Paul Sadler (D) 32, John Jay Myers (L) 6
VA-SEN (CBS/Quinnipiac): Tim Kaine (D) 51, George Allen (R) 44
VA-SEN (Fox News): Tim Kaine (D) 47, George Allen (R) 43
VA-SEN (Washington Post): Tim Kaine (D) 51, George Allen (R) 43
WI-SEN (CBS/Quinnipiac): Tammy Baldwin (D) 47, Tommy Thompson (R) 47
WI-SEN (Marquette Law School): Tammy Baldwin (D) 50, Tommy Thompson (R) 41 (LV); Tammy Baldwin (D) 49, Tommy Thompson (R) 41 (RV)

AZ-09 (Anzalone-Liszt for the DCCC): Kyrsten Sinema (D) 48, Vernon Parker (R) 43
IL-12 (Benenson Strategies for HMP/SEIU): Bill Enyart (D) 49, Jason Plummer (R) 41
KY-06 (Mellman Group for the Chandler Campaign): Rep. Ben Chandler (D) 51, Andy Barr (R) 37
NC-09 (Lake Research for the Roberts campaign): Robert Pittenger (R) 38, Jennifer Roberts (D) 37, Curtis Campbell (L) 3
RI-01 (Benenson Strategies for the DCCC): Rep. David Cicilline (D) 46, Brendan Doherty (R) 35, David Vogel (I) 8
TX-23 (Anzalone-Liszt for the Sierra Club): Pete Gallego (D) 43, Rep. Quico Canseco (R) 38

A few thoughts, as always, await you just past the jump...

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olling-Wrap-A-data-heavy-Wednesday-on-balance-favors-the-Democrats

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Ryanmentum

post from Talking Points Memo on 19 September 2012 09:00:40 PM. © Talking Points Memo

I guess Wisconsin may not be a prime swing state for much longer. The gold standard in-state poll just released its latest survey and it shows Obama up by 14 points.[...]

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Good Quote

post from Talking Points Memo on 19 September 2012 09:00:40 PM. © Talking Points Memo

Elizabeth Warren: "Romney just wrote off half the people in Massachusetts and half the people in America as deadbeats. This is a separate category of contempt for half of our fellow citizens."[...]

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When the camera [and the tape] is rolling.

*If you don't believe that we are living in a new media age, the events over the past few weeks should go a long way in changing your mind. Consider the following: Some wacko makes a movie denouncing and mocking Islam and it causes riots all over the world. The future queen of England is caught au natural while on a private vacation. And, here in America, the republican candidate for president was caught on camera letting regular folks know just how he feels about them.

I love it. The world has become smaller and everything has become more transparent. This means that if you are a public figure you have to be more careful. When Mitt was hobnobbing with his big money friends at the home of one of the owners of my hometown Sixers, he never expected that there was a possibility that one of the servants --who, to him, might as well have been a piece of the furniture in the room-- might be taping his every word and movement from a cell phone. I am quite sure that when Kate decided to do her best Janet Jackson imitation, she didn't expect some paparazzi with a high powered lens to be picking up what she was pulling out. But such is life in our new media age; everyone can become his or her own version Cecil B. DeMille with the drop of a hat.

Finally, there are a couple of stories out there where I am glad that the cameras weren't rolling. The first one comes to us from out in Cali:

"A California chef told police he slow-cooked his wife?s body for four days after accidentally killing her, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The grisly detail emerged Tuesday during the second week of the murder trial of David Viens, accused in the death of 39-year-old Dawn Viens in October 2009.
In two March 2011 interviews with authorities that were played for the jury on Tuesday, David Viens recounted how he caused the death of his wife and disposed of her remains. The interviews were conducted in a hospital because Viens had jumped off an 80-foot cliff when suspected by police in his wife?s disappearance.

He said he panicked when he woke up the next morning and found his wife dead. Viens told investigators he placed her body into a large drum of boiling water and used weights to keep it submerged, the newspaper reported.
?I just slowly cooked it and I ended up cooking her for four days,? he said, according to the paper.

?You cooked on Dawn?s body for four days?? responded Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Sgt. Richard Garcia.

Before it was done,? Viens said. He didn?t say where he cooked the body, but Viens owned the Thyme Contemporary Cafe in Lomita, Calif., at the time. The defendant did say he kept his wife?s skull. ?That?s the only thing I didn?t want to get rid of in case I wanted to leave it somewhere,? he admitted, according to the Los Angeles Times.

He told police that the skull was in his mother?s attic in Torrance, but they did not find it there." [Source]

For today's special....let me stop.

The second story comes to us from Florida. (One day I am going to try and raise enough money to commission a study to research the behavior of people in Florida.)

"A frisky farm hand cuffed after allegedly telling police he masturbated with a donkey told a Florida court Tuesday that he wants his burro back.

?There?s got to be due process here. I paid $500 for her,? said 31-year-old Carlos Romero, according to the Ocala Star-Banner.

But Marion County officials want custody of the miniature donkey named Doodle, and plan to put her up for adoption, the newspaper said. The animal appeared in good condition after the alleged abuse.

Romero pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual activity involving an animal and animal cruelty. His bail was set at $2,000 and was placed into Marion County Jail" [Source]

Poor Carlos, there just aren't that many donkey pick up bars around. What's a love sick guy to do?

*Pic from Mother Jones

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Romney Borrows Primary Money Against Banked
General Election Dollars, Shows the Value of Borrowing

When Mitt Romney started raising serious money for his Presidential run throughout the summer, there was one hitch. He was getting checks from a lot of big money donors that were back-loaded. The donors maxed out for the primary election and the[...]

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Crazy like a fox: That Willard gins up an
insanity defense! Plus hot graphics for the 2012 GOP campaign

The style may be a trifle retro, but doesn't this cartoon by Syd Hoff capture the nuances of Republican thinking about unions -- and malcontents generally. (Hat tip to Mayor Mike and New York's Finest for their OWS work.)

by Ken

What happens when one candidate in a presidential campaign has to be locked up in the booby hatch? Do they call the election off, or what? Bear with me for a moment.

AmericaBlog's John Aravosis has a theory about the Incorporated Willard that seems to me almost irrefutable in its simplicity and plausibility: "Romney's poor management skills aren't a gaffe, they're a feature."

The idea that Mitt Romney is a "good manager" has now been proven false. The ongoing disaster that is his presidential campaign proves that Romney isn't Mr. Fix-it, he's Mr. Broke-it.

John summons examples that are hard to argue with:

* the way he"botched the religious right furor over his foreign policy spokesman being gay."

* the foreign trip during which "he offended the British, insulted both the Israelis and the Palestinians, and then desecrated a Polish holy site for good measure."

* the Republican convention, "which Romney was in charge of."

* "Romney's Al Haig moment during the Libya/Egypt crisis."

* Just this week, "Romney's "You're fired!" video to 47% of the American people."

* And "Mrs. Romney's ill-fated "Mitt doesn't disdain the poor" video last night."

Put it all together and John is prepared to go beyond the argument of AmericaBlog's Chris in Paris "that Mitt's much-famed CEO skills don't necessarily make him a good president:"

I'm wondering whether we've got the story wrong. Mitt Romney isn't a bad presidential candidate because he's a good CEO. Maybe he's a bad candidate because he's a bad CEO.

I'm going to take this one step further. I think Willard's cooking up an insanity defense. Maybe he's been thinking along the lines Howie pursued the other day: the directions in which fingers of blame may be pointed if his campaign winds up the way it's looking now. Or maybe all his working life he's had the sense that he's only one step ahead of the authorities ready to nab him for his life of economic raping, pillaging, and plundering -- and he's had it in the back of his head that one way out is (you guessed it) an insanity defense. Maybe he thinks it beats the alternatives: that he's either a criminal predator or a bumbling incompetent.

Something along these lines is the only explanation I can think of for our Willard's sudden disclosure that he thinks that he, unlike the Accursed American 47%, is a maker and not a taker. Whereas anyone who know about his "career" of sucking every bit of life he could out of the economy knows that the exact opposite is true. He's a taker and a destroyer.

Or . . . maybe he's just nuts! Can anyone prove otherwise?

John A, apparently, is going with the "bumbling incompetent" theory, and I can't quarrel with that one either. Doesn't it kind of put you in mind of our last CEO president? You know, the one who thought he was the mastermind of his succession of successively vaulting corporate triumphs?

MEANWHILE, BOB MANKOFF DUSTS OFF SOLME SPLENDID
ART THAT THE REPUBLICANS COULD RECYCLE FOR 2012

It's in the New Yorker cartoon editor's new e-newsletter-slash-blogpost, "The Ruling Clawss," in which he takes advantage of the centenary to recall the work of longtime New Yorker cartoonist Syd Hoff (1912-2004), He shows us samples of the Depression-era down-classing in Hoff's work from the upper-class swells who had populated the cartoons of earlier cartoonists like Peter Arno.

More importantly, he introduces us to Hoff's alter-ego.

[I]f Hoff?s New Yorker pen left the very rich unscathed, a pen name, A. Redfield, let him express very different feelings in a very different New York publication, The Daily Worker.

In a series of single-panel gags called ?The Ruling Clawss,? which ran from 1933 to 1935 in The Daily Worker, Redfield dealt with issues that Hoff could not.

A collection of these panels were published in a book of the same name, in 1935.