Via a Kos comment thread, here’s a Google document with links to live web polls. Go hit ’em.
Of particular moment: Yahoo needs some help here (though oddly, the Yahoo News poll shows a very strong result for Obama.) The Yahoo poll is down a bit on the right.
Look also at some of the Virginia, Florida and NC polls — some of the littler ones are clearly in need of a little goosing. And for laughs and muffled rage, do peer at the Wall St. Journal’s condescending, panicked take on all of this.
Do your best (worst).
Image: Domenico Ghirlando, St Barbara Crushing her Infidel Father, with a Kneeling Donor, c. 1473.
Little Boots
did everone miss me?
anyone?
omnes?
Little Boots
hate everyone.
who’s tom?
BGinCHI
echo
echo
echo
Little Boots
lovely picture, seriously, it’s about me?
Spaghetti Lee
OK, in their defense, maybe it’s too early for the debate to make it onto the list, but still:
TRENDING NOW
01 Kate Gosselin fired
02 Karina Smirnoff falls
03 Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
04 Peanut butter recall
05 South Park lawsuit
06 Zumba scandal
07 Jennifer Aniston
Never change, Yahoo!
handy
COLE WHY ARE YOU ALLOWING ONE OF YOUR FPERS TO POST P0RN!
Little Boots
miss omnes.
Little Boots
though also miss handy, a bit.
Can't Be Bothered
Go post something on social media. Seriously. They’re already trying to spin this ridiculous fucking beatdown as some sort of tie.
Bill E Pilgrim
I’m starting to think we should actually be concerned when Mitt Romney talks about who he wants “in his cabinet”. He might mean literally.
jwb
Mostly these polls don’t show up on the iPad version of the sites. I don’t know if they are using Flash or what. I did vote on the polls I could.
Little Boots
@Can’t Be Bothered:
this pudding needs a subject.
handy
@Little Boots:
Awwww
karl
No comment on the post — just pointing out in an annoyingly elitist and pedantic way that you misspelled Ghirlandaio.
But even that won’t stop me from voting for Obama.
pseudonymous in nc
Or treat web polls as the bullshit everyone knows them to be. Is it 2004 suddenly or something?
Post binders-of-women pictures on Facebook instead. Memes are the new web polls.
Can't Be Bothered
@Little Boots:
I don’t know what you’re trying to say.
Little Boots
@handy:
it’s true,
and what the hell is with this place tonight?
where’s the … everything?
Mnemosyne
We’re heading up to Santa Barbara for the weekend starting on Friday. Which is not actually relevant to anything, but I felt like bragging.
Also, though I had suspected it for some time, the person who is helping me declutter my apartment accidentally outed herself as an undercover Canadian today when she said I could take my newly decluttered car to the car wash and have it “hoovered.”
AHA! I KNEW IT ALL ALONG!
Jake Nelson
Tom, I saw this and immediately thought “Hey, they’re stealing your shtick!”
WaterGirl
@jwb: Several polls weren’t on the sites listed at the link, and I am on a laptop. So maybe it’s not the iPad.
Frankensteinbeck
By the way, did anyone else think that Romney really started losing the audience when he went off on China? That was so bizarrely out of left field. Until then I thought he was at least flinging bullshit the ignorant might buy, but saying we were losing jobs because China cheats… it was like he put on a tin foil hat onstage and started talking about Martians.
GregB
Mitt Romney plans on replacing the New Deal with Paul Ryan’s Sketchy Deal.
Why am I washing your mooching dishes anyhow?
Jake Nelson
Also too, watching the debate now on YouTube (was asleep during it, as I was planning to work tonight, alas my ever-uncooperative stomach had other plans) and having the same issue I did watching the VP debate that way… have to keep pausing it and switching windows even in relatively good bits, because I can’t listen to either of R/R for two minutes straight. Didn’t have this problem watching the first one on TV, but maybe that’s because my brother and I could keep up our own commentary track on Mitt’s bullshit.
Little Boots
@Can’t Be Bothered:
yes, you do, and so does john.
come on, people, romney was just sad tonight.
Or something like that.Suffern Ace
@Spaghetti Lee: So.. About this Zumba scandal…show some class Maine.
Jake Nelson
@Or something like that.Suffern Ace: Want to make a joke about that and the earthquake, but can’t quite put the halves together.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
damn me if some of those stories aren’t fascinating. I can never keep them straight in my head.
The next few days are gonna be interesting. Besides Willard’s malfunction tonight, actual reporters are starting to push back on the GOP bullshit about Benghazi, and TPM tells me that Willard is worried enough about the abortion question to run an ad pointing out his ‘moderation’. I really think that is not a discussion the Santorum/Ryan and Romney/Wall St wings of the party want to have.
Spaghetti Lee
@Or something like that.Suffern Ace:
The cheetos one interests me the most. Is there some cheeto-related bombshell I haven’t heard about? Serves me right for being out of the social media loop!
Steve
I’m an undecided voter. I am waiting to make up my mind until after the debates so I can check the web polls and then decide who to vote for.
Little Boots
could everyone admit I’m right?
john, you don’t need to, just know it, down inside.
max
@WaterGirl: Several polls weren’t on the sites listed at the link, and I am on a laptop.
Lots of polls got closed I think. Obama seems to be winning all of them, except one in NC. Also, some polls may not display based on IP address.
max
[‘Not a surprise there.’]
mai naem
It’s a bad night for Republicans. Bristol Palin just got voted off DWTS.
Spaghetti Lee
@max:
The one at Fox News was 95-5 Romney. I didn’t see the sample size, but I assume the freepers were standing guard from the get-go.
Violet
I’m Freeping the polls like it matters. Since some news orgs last time were reporting online polls as if they were scientific polls, I figure it might help shape opinion.
Original Lee
Oh, and especially relevant to the debate tonight, I found this video to be powerful.
Redshift
@pseudonymous in nc:
Everyone knows that except TV pundits, who are still innumerate idiots and will talk about them. It’s BS, but it’s a vector where we can make the BS work to our advantage.
Redshift
@Spaghetti Lee:
And one of their rotating top articles is “Jennifer Aniston Cries in Interview.”
Apparently the excuse that something has to be “new” to be “news” only applies to political stories. If political reporting worked like entertainment reporting, I guess we could have “Mitt Romney Lies in Interview” as a headline even after it’s become commonplace.
max
@Can’t Be Bothered: They’re already trying to spin this ridiculous fucking beatdown as some sort of tie.
That seems to be the emerging Beltway Centrist line: Obama won but it doesn’t matter because
WE WANT A HORSERACEDEFICIT REDUCTIONTHE PRESIDENT IS STILL BLACKDEPLORABLE BICKERINGthis is the second debate, and only the first debate counts because that proved that the two parties should adopt Beltway Centrism like, say, Moderate Mitt, and then everything would perfect for everyone and the ladies should shut up about the abortion and stuff, and old people who don’t live in DC are greedy scumbuckets. Etc.Another words: R’s permanent war against reality still on, Republican-‘leaners’ in punditocracy ok with that because he’s still Moderate Mitt.
max
[‘I only saw Obama behind in one web poll.’]
Jim, Foolish Literalist
O, Jennifer Aniston, will you ever find true love?
Any guess as to what moment this pic comes from? Willard not happy.
Death Panel Truck
@Mnemosyne: In England, they call it ‘ooverin’. I heard a woman say it once in a documentary. She said she plugged into the mains so she could “‘oover the floor.”
Death Panel Truck
@Mnemosyne: In England, they call it ‘ooverin’. I heard a woman say it once in a documentary. She said she plugged into the mains so she could “‘oover the floor.”
Little Boots
he won, and that’s awesome, and enough.
AnotherBruce
Shit, just going to the Yahoo site gave me a concussion. But I took one for the team!
Little Boots
he won, and that’s awesome, and enough.
AnotherBruce
Shit, just going to the Yahoo site gave me a concussion. But I took one for the team!
Little Boots
he won, and that’s awesome, and enough.
Death Panel Truck
@Mnemosyne: In England, they call it “‘ooverin’.” They “plug into the mains” so they can “‘oover” the floor.
JGabriel
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max:
Nate Silver says:
.
TheMightyTrowel
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I said it in the live blog, i’ll say it again: through most of the debate Mitt looked like he was trying to pass a watermelon through his sphincter without lube.
Death Panel Truck
@Mnemosyne: In England, they call it “‘ooverin’.” They “plug into the mains” so they can “‘oover” the floor.
JGabriel
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max:
Nate Silver says:
.
TheMightyTrowel
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I said it in the live blog, i’ll say it again: through most of the debate Mitt looked like he was trying to pass a watermelon through his sphincter without lube.
Little Boots
for omnes, whom I miss:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6DN11Q4Kao
Allen
@Mnemosyne: My grandparents were born in Canada 2 centuries ago. I spent a lot of time with them as a kid and didn’t loose the accent till I was 30.
SatanicPanic
@Mnemosyne: The central coast sure is nice. Love that part of California.
Spaghetti Lee
@Allen:
Ooh yah, dat’s a mighty lahng time, donchaknow.
Little Boots
whatever, I brought the music.
jwb
@max: the media always takes this stand at first. It will start to breakdown tomorrow if Obama’s performance has legs on the Internet and around the water coolers tomorrow. It will finally fall if the polls start to move. Then it will be the conventional wisdom and the media will deny that anyone thought this was anything but a solid win for Obama. This is the trajectory of every debate I’ve ever seen where a Democrat scored a clear win.
JGabriel
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About Mitt’s fact-check moment: I think it’s clear now that the GOP believes its lies.
That completely dumbfounded look on Romney’s face, when he was told that President Obama had in fact called the attack in Libya an “act of terror” the very next day, left him flabbergasted and briefly frozen like Dan Quayle’s infamous deer-in-the-headlights moment back in the 1988 VP debate.
Romney believed the lie. It’s a moment that Romney could have completely avoided had he only known his own falsehoods. Talk about being hoisted on your petard.
.
Little Boots
there you go bringing the media into it again.
Redshift
Damn. Did everyone else go out drinking to celebrate, and not tell us?
Little Boots
@Redshift:
apparently.
Hill Dweller
Charlie Pierce has a good piece up. I think he’s right about Willard’s true character coming out for the world to see on a big stage. He thinks everyone is The Help, including the POTUS.
JGabriel
@Redshift, @Little Boots: They went drinking without us? THOSE BASTARDS!
Can't Be Bothered
Is it now too early to celebrate Obama’s reelection? Is it? I wasn’t even definite after Clinton’s speech and 47%. But I truly feel it DEEP in my fucking bones right now. I think Obama just delivered this motherfucker.
priscianusjr
Thanks for this. I voted in every one that was still live.
YellowJournalism
@TheMightyTrowel: And you’d think that would make him more sympathetic to women’s issues…
WarMunchkin
I want to scream two things out to the wind, and because I have to be quiet at night, I’m just going to put them here.
1) Few middle class families will benefit from lower capital gains taxes because few middle class families actually have capital gains income. This cannot be emphasized enough and should be plastered all over every blog ever. It shows how stunningly out of touch Romney is – he doesn’t even get what kind of budget regular people deal with.
2) Obama campaign should run an ad based on Binders of Women. In it, the binder opens, each page shows a portrait, which is initially black and white, then becomes color and “zooms in” to the portrait to show what this person’s lifestyle is like. Humanize the people Romney made into data points. As Joe Biden put it in his DNC speech, that’s how Romney views things – without empathy, as simple data points.
I wish I could inception-implant an Obama campaign person with these.
SatanicPanic
@JGabriel: Yeah, someone over at Booman pointed out that he must not have watched the speech. Probably just heard it on FOX, who, as we all know, are rigorous with their fact-checking.
SatanicPanic
@WarMunchkin: I was thinking- I already don’t pay taxes on investment income, because all my investment income is in my 401K. This has got to be true for most of the middle class.
priscianusjr
@pseudonymous in nc:
GregB
@JGabriel:
Yep. It was one of those moments of clarity. Obama was lackluster at debate one but he didn’t have one of these spells.
Redshift
@WarMunchkin:
Absolutely. I hope it sounded as bizarre to the idiot undecided voters as it did to us. I was at an SIEU local debate-watching party, and the reaction of the entire room full of working people was “we don’t have investment income, Mitt!”
RaflW
Your morning wingnut, brought to you tonight via WaPo comment threads (I know, I’m nutz to wade in there):
In the rose garden, Obama said “acts of terrorism” but in the debate tonight he said that he said “act of terrorism” therefor ZOMG Obama lied his pants off at the debate.
Yeah. They’re that desperate. I’m desperate for some sleep, so I’ll sign off for now…
Can't Be Bothered
Obama just won this election. They’re not getting it back. Go suck a bag of dicks Mitt. You can only lay on the greasy salesman job so many times before you’ll get found out. Couldn’t have happened to a more entitled, shitheaded, fuck. Truly. Fuck Mitt, fuck his stupidly named dickheaded sons, fuck his dancing horse, fuck his plutocrat vulture capital life, and fuck the party that spawned him. Fuck all of them. I’m so glad Obama put this bullshit to bed tonight.
Redshift
Mitt’s answer about employment discrimination was more bizarrely Randian than most of his rhetoric lately. Unequal pay for women will just go away when Mitt makes the economy awesome again, because companies will need to compete for workers, so they’ll treat women better.
Is there anyone in the country who’s dumb enough to buy that?
Oh, I forgot, we’re talking about undecided voters…
amk
Great tweet.
Or something like that.Suffern Ace
@SatanicPanic: You will be paying taxes on that income when you withdraw it.
amk
@Can’t Be Bothered: Now tell us how you reeeally feel about mitbot.
magurakurin
@TheMightyTrowel:
You don’t actually have to say it again, because it looks like WordPress is going to say if for you…about ten times.
Felanius Kootea
I have to say that the undecided voters had some of the best debate questions thus far. I wasn’t expecting that.
Yutsano
@Felanius Kootea: I am still curious how many of them were actually undecided versus lying just to get involved in the event.
Joel
Pierce had it right, the Benghazi exchange was Obama’s “Joe Welch” moment. If the polls don’t bounce back after that then I’m just glad McCarthy and Roy Cohn are dead.
Another Halocene Human
Was anybody else bothered that Bams twice stated that we shouldn’t allow mentally ill people to have access to guns? He didn’t have to say that. I think it’s hurtful and unhelpful to people struggling with mental illness, in a country that makes access to mental health services difficult, both economically and socially, and it’s disappointing to hear him spouting totebagger received wisdom, clear that he hasn’t thought about that deeply, although everything else he said was on point. Although saying that someone shot through the head looked good as new was kind of a stumble. Not as bad as saying “binders of women”. My gawwwd.
Obama killed and I’m happy. But I’m wondering if anyone else cared about this? I like that he came out firmly in support of the assault weapons ban.
Felanius Kootea
@Yutsano: Probably all of them. They certainly weren’t ignorant of current events.
@Joel: I got chills up my spine when Barack looked at Romney and told him how offensive his statements were – I was in shock for a moment there and I think Romney was too.
Dr. Loveless
So. In one night, Obama kicks ass, and the Yankees lose.
Somewhere on the Other Side, Steve Gilliard is smiling.
Maeve
I “never” tweet about politics but two of my 3 tweets were about binders.
One was response to Romney saying we just need to make America more attractive to foreign investment
“Come rape our peasants! That will make us attractive! ”
the others:
“Binders full of women! That’s what the Rmoney admin will bring!”
“We don’t need no stinkin binders!”
I didn’t realize it was a meme!
AnderJ
Dutch (so international !) media are reporting that Obama won as Romney did not do his homework properly linking it to the Benghazi exchange.
John
@Another Halocene Human:
Mentally ill people shouldn’t have access to guns. And how is that teabagger received wisdom? Teabaggers think every (white) lunatic should be able to buy guns, don’t they?
amk
@Another Halocene Human:
Really ? How is that common sense statement ‘hurtful’ and ‘unhelpful’ to the mentally ill?
And Bams ? really ?
Another Halocene Human
@John: I said totebaggers, and unless someone has a long, documented history of severe mental illness, I don’t see how legally adjudicating someone against weapon ownership makes sense.
It just stigmatizes people with emergent mental illness further and discourages them from seeking help because of the threat of losing some of their civil rights.
VaTech, Aurora–these guys had emergent mental health problems. They were quite young.
Remember when courts in the South adjudicated poor and working class Black women as mentally ill or mentally defective or morally turpitudinous or whatever it was and had them sterilized?
Another Halocene Human
@AnderJ: I love it. German snap poll said Obama took it 86% to 13%.
Apparently only a certain subset of dumb, ugly Americans is buying the Mittshit.
Another Halocene Human
@amk: Yeah, ever since he’s decided to Occupy White House and kick ass for the working class (and women!) he is Bams to me. :DDD
The prophet Nostradumbass
Is it just me, or is someone going on about racism on Twitter, while using a Washington Redskins helmet as their avatar, kind of funny?
Hill Dweller
@Joel:
It was genuine anger, which I doubt many people have seen from Obama. That sort of thing hits people viscerally(in a good way).
As an aside, it was good seeing the President and First Lady mingle with the crowd and take pictures/sign autographs.
Willard couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
Felanius Kootea
@Felanius Kootea: Meant probably all lied.
amk
@Another Halocene Human:
Not really.
Pox news poll. Obummer (!!!) winning 70 to 30.
OTOH, you’re right. 30% does qualify as a certain subset of dumb.
amk
@Hill Dweller: Actually, I saw mittbot had to go to the crowd in the stands to shake hands while the kenyan muslin was swamped by the crowd begging for his autograph. That says it all.
Hill Dweller
@amk: I’m trying to find video of the post-debate interaction with the crowd, but they all end right after Obama’s final remarks.
amk
@Hill Dweller: The youtube live feed (thank god for zero pundtwit nitwits) lingered on for about 10 minutes when I watched those post debate moments. You could see queen ass was pissed off.
JasonF
This one pissed me off enough that I actually sent an email to PolitiFact, for all the good that will do (none):
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/oct/17/mitt-romney/romney-says-obama-waited-14-days-call-libya-attack/
Narcissus
Hey guys I hear that in England it’s called hoovering
also I am now into Zumba
Narcissus
awww I didn’t mean it
come back everybody
Triassic Sands
Hey, Tom, where’d you get that spelling. I took one look at it and…well, I’ve always seen the name as Domenico Ghirlandaio.
JGabriel
Deleted & reposted by author, due to moderation.
JGabriel
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JasonF:
PolitiFact:
And I rate PolitiFact: Half Assed.
Narcissus
@JGabriel: That’s like sixth-dimensional self parody right there
Groucho48
@JasonF:
That’s got to be the dumbest reasoning I’ve seen this year from non-right wingers.
Being unsure whether an attack was planned in advance or spontaneously used a demonstration as a diversion or was an actual part of the demonstration, does not in any way imply that it wasn’t an act of terrorism. I mean, what else could it be? A bungled robbery?
Triassic Sands
Ross Douthat: Obama’s Narrow Victory
After the first debate, I was pretty perplexed (and a little annoyed) at the lengths to which some lefties went to either proclaim Obama the victor (“He won on substance….,” as if substance matters much in a presidential debate. It doesn’t, even if we desperately want it to.) or, at least, to claim that he hadn’t done that badly.
I was mostly amused after the VP debate when lefties who had judged Romney offensively aggressive in debate 1, found in Joe Biden the perfect mix of assertiveness and contempt (for Ryan), while the wingers who had worshipped Romney’s aggressive ass-kicking of Obama, suddenly found Biden borderline psychotic.
I’m partisan, but reality ought to count for something. That’s why, when I checked the front page of the Times after the debate to see what the headlines said about it, I was drawn to Douthat’s OP-ED column’s headline (see above). All I could think was “Fuck you, you moronic Wingnut!”
Douthat: Romney on foreign policy —
Hmmm. One of these guys is going to serve as our next president — and being underinformed (aka ignorant) and overaggressive (a prescription for utter disaster in the White House), ought to utterly disqualify a candidate (three weeks from the election and three months from taking office) from being president.
Reading Douthat’s sometimes accurate description of the debate, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the narrowness of the victory is created by the
partisanshipwishful thinking of the writer.wetcasements
This Dinesh D’souza stuff is crazy:
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/16/when_dinesh_dsouza_had_a_fiancee_and_a_wife/singleton/
And by crazy I mean completely predictable for a moralizing wing-nut.
Dr. Omed
Modern presidential debates run on the exact same principle as a contest between two prairie chicken cocks strutting, fluffing, and booming out on the lek. We’re the hens, deciding who fluffs best. This is how we choose which presidential cock gets to impregnate the Supreme Court.
amk
@Dr. Omed: Idiot comment. Lemme guess, “undecided indie”, amirite?
Ruckus
@Can’t Be Bothered:
I like the way you express yourself. Seems like you have a strong opinion of stupid rich fucks. Can’t imagine where you got it.
You might have noticed that I agree with you.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@Narcissus:
Candy Crowley was on CNN after the event saying that while Obama did refer to it as terrorism immediately after the attack, Rmoney was ‘technically’ correct about the Obama’s response (or lack of one or whatever the fuck they’ve been whining about). It came across as Crowley being unhappy about having boosted Obama by correcting Rmoney.
CNN sucks and Crowley is right at home there.
Dr. Omed
@amk: No. Registered Democrat voting for Obama. Thinking we are not so much citizens choosing a president to lead but more like Aztecs selecting the most beautiful captive warrior as Teotl Ixiptla, the divine image, the sacrifice to the Smoking Mirror.
Todd
@Odie Hugh Manatee:
“Both Sides!”
Dr. Omed
Please, @amk, persuade me that the American electorate picks a president on a better and more rational basis than a prairie chicken hen picks a cock, or less cultishly than Aztecs selected their most honored human sacrifice. I would like to believe that.
PreservedKillick
I agree – that’s exactly what happened. The right-wing echo chamber nailed him right between the eyes. Almost literally, I think I saw them actually cross when that happened.
But the key thing is this – it was helpful that he had, in fact, stated that it was an act of terror, but Obama already had him completely and utterly owned by that point, with just two words:
“Proceed, Governor.”
He’d taken control of the debate, the moderator and Romney, right there. One of them was clearly Alpha, was clearly the President and was clearly Presidential. The other was subservient. Doesn’t matter what was said, what was communicated was clear as a bell, and that is what will subconsciously resonate.
If Romney had done that…game over.
And, BTW, we should all hope that the right pushes the hell out of the “Romney was right! Candy cheated!” meme, because you want that whole chunk of the debate played again and again and again and again. Not for the actual content, but for the subliminal message.
I’m quite sure that Romney knows what happened there. He’s run enough meetings, I am certain, to know when one has been taken away from him. That’s why he scooted out of the debate room like his ass had been scolded.
Elias
Chilling at my favorite webforum. Maybe 50 frequent posters in the politics section with a core of about 20 regulars. Mostly conservatives and unfriendly mods, but we have a great Dem team there.
But yeah, cons start most of the discussion over there. And right now I’m seeing strict radio silence regarding the debate right now. They must realize they got absolutely trounced.
Haven’t seen the debate yet. No TV and no internet access except my dumbphone, but I’m definitely watching this at the library tomorrow.
raven
Morning Joe update “You don’t cut off a female moderator and you don’t cut off the President of the United States”.
WereBear
I has such a happy!
I admit, I missed a lot of the debate “moments” because I absolutely cannot stand to listen to the Romney White Noise and tuned out much of it. Mr WereBear was vocally appreciative of the President, and that let me tune out even more; he’s got this.
Will have to look for certain highlights on video later.
amk
@raven: Saw some great tweet saying Oh, great. romney is now debating the moderator.
Frankensteinbeck
@WereBear:
He did. Obama really did. In all seriousness, I think the ‘Everybody chill the fuck out, I got this.’ picture will be the meme that defines Obama’s presidency long after it’s over. It just might get into history books. A lot of ‘This is how they felt at the time’ memorabilia does.
raven
@amk: We had people over so I stayed off the intertubes. Love it!
The Ancient Randonneur
Well at least Excitable Boy Sullivan did the happy dance. I was worried the blogosphere would have another week of poking fun at him and not get to the real issues like Barack Obama’s birth certificate and Joe Biden being mean to that poor boy with the chicken legs.
hep kitty
I’m just now watching the debate. Romney straining at the leash Candy Crowley is holding
kay
Ann Romney looked mad. That’s not a good sign for Mitt.
The Romney Family ambition in this is creepy. I know the candidates use their families, but I’ve never seen this total whole-family determination to win the White House before. His sons are grown. They give the impression they want into the WH as desperately as their father does.
It’s like Lynne Cheney times 6. It’s gross.
hep kitty
@WereBear: Only thing, white noise is very soothing to me, which I cannot say the same for Romney’s babblings. But a good analogy, since my mind immediately begins wandering, like anytime Sarah Palin opens her mouth.
Valdivia
@kay:
totally agree. they all creep me out.
TheMightyTrowel
i really hope that team obama turns the binder full of women lie into an ad. every woman i know has had the experience of a douche male colleague dismissing her idea then presenting it as his own and claiming all the credit. it’s nasty and it rankles.
hep kitty
I wonder what the Stupid Quotient is in that room
I can’t believe we must have spent what seemed like 15 minutes on gas prices and whether or not the Energy Dept can “control” the price of gas
Sorry, I know no one probably wants a re-run but here comes the Romney lizard blinking and frozen faux smile response, everytime Obama starts talking.
hep kitty
Very very good, vintage President Obama in. This is what I wanted to see and had hoped for.
“What Gov. Romney said just isn’t true”
Aaaaaah, finally. that feels good
WereBear
Ack. I must stay off Facebook today. What is the point of watching this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nu6VZ9DeVc
And then saying:
Were they not talking about Obama’s speech right after the attacks, about the attacks? Does this make ANY sense?
hep kitty
@kay: This thing, this collective consciousness, is a powerful Mormon tribe that is not used to being denied anything. I’m just saying.
bemused
@AnderJ:
Mitt: Homework? I don’t need no stinkin’ homework.
kay
@Valdivia:
It’s such a jarring contrast, Romney constantly referring to them as “boys” and then seeing these wildly ambitious, grasping adults, all seeking the office.
They’re owed that accomplishment!
You just know you’d be stuck with the whole fucking family governing.
“My five boys” would be right in there, securing the ancestral legacy.
Valdivia
@kay:
there was this article right after the 1st debate crediting the turn around of the Mitt Mission to his oldest (Tagg?). How trusted and wise and adviser he was. To me it sounded shades of I, Claudius!
Baud
This debate might just be the shot in the arm ACORN needs to steal the election for Obama.
I only watched clips of the debate, but what really struck me was the “Of course, it adds up” comment from Mitt. He went full-bore monorail salesman there. Complete disrespect for the financial needs of working families. I hope that stuck.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
I love this picture. How dare that stubborn child talk back to Daddy!
Paul
@WereBear:
Yes, they were talking about Obama’s speech right after the attacks. No, it doesn’t make any sense.
But it is rather interesting that they are desperately pursuing this strange line of attack. That means they realize that the exchange was devastating for Romney.
Narcissus
Actually, what the hell do the Romney “boys” do for a living?
The Thin Black Duke
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Eeewwwwwwwwwwww.
amk
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
Wow. If only looks could kill, candy/obama would be ashes by now.
Ash Can
I may have to tune in to the View tomorrow to see Miz Ann. If she doesn’t cancel in the meantime, that is.
pseudonymous in nc
@kay:
Not just ambition but entitlement. They think that the WH is theirs by right, and that’s without considering whatever Mormon prophecies may say. Or perhaps the family isn’t ready to deal with a Mittens who isn’t going to be president, since he’s been “going to be president” for his entire adult life.
@Paul:
They think they can find some magic reading or reference that will technically unpwn Mitt for that exchange (which is bullshit regardless) but even if such a thing exists, it wouldn’t remove the impact of the initial pwning, because it revealed someone whose foreign policy education comes from wingnut radio and Faux News, not reality.
hep kitty
Gov. Romney, what would you do to rectify inequality in the workplace?
President: Lily Ledbetter
Romney: humminah humminah humminah hired women for cabinet humminah humminah humminah
Kay
@pseudonymous in nc:
I love how it’s portrayed as some American Ideal Family. It really isn’t the average experience, taking years off to travel with your father and promote the Romney Brand. Most people have to grow up. They’re singular adults, like Obama.
bemused
@hep kitty:
Mitt: I promise a booming economy so business will totally hire more women at equal pay with flexible schedules just because…the free market works, baby.
Anya
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Oh God, what is Mrs. Romney wearing? That woman needs to get a stylist. Her sense of style is really atrocious.
Speaking of Romney and poor taste, Mittens will be in Virginia today with Dennis Miller and some other guy called Lee Greenwood. Dennis Miller is going to be so unfunny, specially not that he has nothing to brag about. What is he gonna do, still milk the 911 tragedy?
Kay
@Valdivia:
This may be just me, but the “my five boys” mantra both Romney and his wife use grates on me every time they say it. I can’t help but think “boys” is the important part of that brag. I hear that every single time, as if raising boys is somehow a much more difficult and worthy task than raising girls.
I’ve never been comfortable with that (really common) idea that one somehow puts points on the board for X number of children, and that just comes through very strongly with them. I don’t understand why they want credit for it. I feel like saying “well, you wanted these children, right, or were you doing us all some huge favor?”
Anya
@Kay: My dad and his family are from a collectivist culture and they find the Romney boys’ lack of independence from their father’s identity creepy. It’s amazing how they all go to interviews together and do everything together. Really creepy. They don’t seem genuine or spontaneous at all. It’s as though they were made in factory.
Kay
@Anya:
I get such a strong sense of it when Romney goes on and on about Obama’s “plane.”
They want that plane, The Romney’s. It’s better than any plane they can buy.
Schlemizel
@kay:
Kay, I have read several stories that suggest Ann hates politics and that Willards running stresses her and makes the MS worse. It might not be his poor performance last night, she might be in real pain. The fact that Willard is the cause of this unnecessary suffering and that it will all lead to naught may be the source of that look on her face.
sherparick
@Can’t Be Bothered: Yes. Of course like Charles Pierce my Irish folk roots and culture mean that after 1,000 years of “if anything can go wrong, it will” I just expect my dreams to be crushed and end up reliving my own version of “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” That way if it doesn’t happen, I am pleasantly surprised.
My biggest disappointment, particularly when they both started discussing energy and the subject of Global Warming and the environment did not even come up. Biggest change in politics these last 20 years (showing what money and determined lying can do) is that way Environmentalism went from from and Apple Pie and Motherhood issue to now be considered toxic. Romney states outright that it is part of his principal agenda (to get the economy going)to tear up 40 years of environmental laws and regulations and allow Koch brothers and assorted other plunderers free access to all U.S. lands, parks included, for coal, oil, and gas fracking. This may turn out, around the world, as the warmest yar on record. http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/
Also, no questions about the drought this summer, the impact on food prices, and how this could be a harbinger of our future. http://www.skepticalscience.com/misleading-daily-mail-prebunked-nuccitelli-et-al-2012.html
Instead, we have Romney spouting the same disinformation contained in the Daily Mail article the Skeptical Science Blog discusses.
Kay
@Schlemizel:
I don’t have that much sympathy for political spouses. Ideally, I won’t be in their marriage at all. Ann allowed herself to be sold as the Secret Weapon. She’s an adult. I don’t really buy the weary, put-upon sacrifice bit. He’s been running for President his entire life. Surely she knows that.
A moocher
@Mnemosyne: That would make her an English type.
amk
@Schlemizel: She bought it. She has to live that. She might evoke some sympathy if it weren’t for her arrogance.
Kay
@amk:
And if she’d stop saying that she purchases expensive horses and puts them in competitions because she has MS.
She can have whatever hobby she likes. It’s just silly to insist it’s all directly related to “therapy.” It’s that fucked-up conservative “fungibility” thing, where all things are connected by tortured language and elaborate stories. It defies common sense.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Anya: Lee Greenwood.
amk
@Kay: Yup. All that skulduggery and the sense of entitlement to money and power.
r€nato
Thank you for posting the lovely painting.
The supplicant is clearly one of the Medici, though I can’t say with certainty which one. The profile is unmistakable.
SBJules
@Mnemosyne:
I live in Santa Barbara. We have a fiesta parade & celebration every August that has a young woman Portraying St.Barbara. She is not crushing her father. That would be interesting…
gelfling545
@Another Halocene Human: Are you saying you believe that the mentally ill should have access to fire arms?
Another Halocene Human
@PreservedKillick: But the key thing is this – it was helpful that he had, in fact, stated that it was an act of terror, but Obama already had him completely and utterly owned by that point, with just two words: “Proceed, Governor.”
You know how the religious right likes to fantasize (chick tracts, email forwards) about bravely and brilliantly owning that sneering atheist college professor*?
I see a thousand hands
fappinghunting and pecking at the keyboard fantasizing My Summer Vacation Comeback At Arrogant Obama.*the college professor is probably actually an Episcopalian, but hurt their fee-fees as a fundamentalist and is therefore a tool of Satan and, by wingnut logic, an atheist by definition
Another Halocene Human
@gelfling545: Don’t they already?
I’m questioning how you in practical terms carry out a ban.
Criminal stuff is adjudicated. So on a basic level the same standard would apply. But judges are experts on the legal system, not mental health. You would both fail to intervene in Aurora and VTech type events, where the subject is young and the mental health problems are emergent, and you would expose the poor and vulnerable to further loss of civil rights without any real justification.
More murders are committed by the sane than the insane.
Obama was correct in his remarks about opportunity vs. violence. Studies (which he probably missed, presidentin’ all the time) came out this year overturning the old consensus in criminology, than poverty caused societal violence. They showed that, in fact, societies’ inequality was correlated positively to violence.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@kay:
They’ve got a Dynasty to found, for Kolob’s sake.
And that Uppity Kenyan Usurper, the Petulant Man-Child is in their way.
rea
How does St. Barbara (with head) come to be crushing her father, anyway? Didn’t he cut her head off, and then get struck by lightning?
SFAW
@Narcissus:
Not serve in the US Armed Forces, for one. (Don’t know if Kolob has its own standing army, though.)
Borrow Daddy’s money to “start” “businesses”, for another.