Associated Press
Several weeks ago, I launched a new Friday afternoon feature, highlighting the most blatant Mitt Romney falsehoods of the week. It moved to Maddow Blog last week, and here's this week's installment. (It does not include mendacity from Romney's CPAC speech this afternoon.)
1. Romney claimed, "We are the only people on the earth that put our hand over our heart during the playing of the national anthem. It was FDR who asked us to do that, in honor of the blood that was being shed by our sons and daughters in far-off places."
This is both untrue and rather strange.
2. Romney argued in a speech, "You know, like his colleagues in the faculty lounge, who think they know better, President Obama demonizes and denigrates almost every sector of our economy."
Asked to back that up, the Romney campaign pointed to President Obama's criticism of Wall Street recklessness, insurance company abuses, and oil companies. If those three represent "almost every sector of our economy," then Romney doesn't understand the private sector as well as he thinks he does.
3. Romney claimed, "Just this last week, this same administration said that in churches and the institutions they run, such as schools and let's say adoption agencies, hospitals, that they have to provide for their employees, free of charge, contraceptives, morning-after pills -- in other words abortive pills and the like at no cost."
That's not even close to being an accurate description of the policy.
4. Romney argued, "More Americans have lost their jobs during President Obama's term than during any other President in modern history."
That only makes sense if Romney holds the job losses from early 2009 -- before Obama could even begin governing in earnest -- against him. If you blame the president for job losses that occurred 11 days after his inauguration, then Romney's claim is sort of true. If you're willing to be fair, then Romney's being deliberately misleading.
5. Romney once again insisted this week, "This is a president who began his presidency by apologizing for America."
That's a lie. It never happened.
6. Romney claimed, "Three years ago, a newly elected President Obama told America that if Congress approved his plan to borrow nearly a trillion dollars he would hold unemployment below 8 percent."
7. Romney told supports in Las Vegas that the president told Americans "to skip coming here for conventions and meetings."
No, Obama actually said, in reference to Wall Street recklessness, "You are not going to be able to give out these big bonuses until you pay taxpayers back. You can't get corporate jets. You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime. There's got to be some accountability and some responsibility."
8. Romney argued, "[O]ne of the most important and personal matters of our lives are our health care, is our health care. President Obama would turn the decision-making over to government bureaucrats."
No honest evaluation of the Affordable Care Act could lead a literate person to believe this.
9. Romney claimed, "President Obama is shrinking our military."
Obama has increased defense spending three times in three years. The Pentagon budget is poised to shrink, but Republicans have backed the cuts, and the reductions are to be expected after one war ends and another scales back.
10. Romney told Fox News' Neil Cavuto he tried to "remove" the contraception mandate in Massachusetts, but the state legislature wouldn't let him.
Paul Krugman, noting Romney's dishonesty, recently said the Republican presidential candidate "seems confident that he will pay no price for making stuff up." Given the frequency with which he repeats falsehoods, it seems clear Krugman was right.
Leave a Comment:
Hey Rachel, how about you watch the Santorum hand shake video again?
Did you happen to notice that the guys whose hands he shook, extended their hands to him first? Would you be so rude as to ignore them?
Did you happen to notice that Green Tie Billionaire didn't extend his hand.
I'm not seeing that as awkward at all, but I do see you as a blithering imbecile.
The man has a point. We need a president who only shakes hands extended to him first. No need to take unnecessary risks for the sake of kindness or good manners.
oh you mean during the limited time he has before his speech. Does Obama shake ever Republican Senator's hand on his way down the isle?
I hope not. He has a speech to give, and time is of the essence.
So you mean taking the risk of bowing to Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz then?
Hey Steve, my President took out Osama while your President stated when asked about Osama "Well to the tell you the truth, I don't worry about him much". Of course Bush also said "Our children is learning", attempted to give an unsolicited neck rub to the Chancellor of Germany and played kissy face and held hands with Saudi Prince's all while doing his best to destroy this country for those of us who have to actually do work for a living.
And the winner in "Failing to see the forest for the trees" category is...
I think the point of highlighting Santorum not shaking Mr. Green Tie's hand is an ancillary point meant to lead into the bigger and more compelling story that, despite being spectaularly unsuccessful raising money, Santorum has managed to stay in the race because of a singular billionaire. A billionare with whom he is not supposed to be coordinating with yet shows up personally at these Santorum speeches and mixes with the crowd. The cumulative effect is a fecundity of wealth for Santorum, as revealed by close analysis.
Exactly why Steve deliberately avoided the actual talking point.
Steve, you are a moron and need to learn some manners - of which I will be glad to teach you any day of the week your chicken-yellow-bellied self would like to meet.
If you bad mouth Dr. Maddow again, I will be forced to take action. She is above the fray but I am not.
This could also be called: "CHRONICLING MITT'S SOCIOPATHY"
I don't know what the hell you are talking about.
Do you think that Romney told this many lies when he was a business man? If so that explains a lot.
Also, what does the Mormon faith say about lying? I would assume that a "good Mormon" would not lie. So again, what does that say about Romney?
having lived in Utah for many years (and recently escaped) the religious people there really don't mind lying. What the believe in is 'the ends justifying the means' so if lying is necessary, by all means lie. It's pretty much the Republican mantra these days. They know that Mitt is lying for their greater cause and that's just fine with them.
but there's not a whole lot of 'there' there. I give you commenter 'Steve' above as just one example of the non-existent-to-infantile mentality of the Republican base.
To jalarson: You have been tapping into my psyche!
I'm thinking about "making up" a religion, I mean I can't do any worse with mine than the adulterous, lying, ignorant, women hating, immoral bunch of creeps currently running on the reich! Except in my religion you actually have to have morals, love for everyone (even if they're not like you), mind your own business, and stop judging other people, be kind to children & animals, THINK, use LOGIC, and act like you've got an ounce of "common sense" - anyone want to join up?
Apparently, yes. Reports are surfacing of how Bain Capital under Romney reneged on deals once their competitors gave up, and jacked up the costs to the companies they moved in on. And all of it was considered to be highly unethical -- even among Wall Streeters! A deal is supposed to be a deal, and weaseling out of it is considered a no-no.
a deal is a deal but only if your a ferengi. rules of acquisition
The bible says directly don't lie and in Romans 3, don't lie for God. But of course, most Christians, including Mormons, haven't a clue about what their bible actually says.
Yeah I would say that Romney is a somewhat sleazy salesman.
That depends on whether you are asking about what Mormons say with their words or with their deeds. For example, Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism, secretly taught and practiced polygamy while at the same time vehemently denouncing it in public, calling anyone a liar who accused him of secretly being a polygamist. Polygamy was not openly taught and practiced until after Smith's death, and after the Mormons had settled in Utah.
So, Mormons lie when it's expedient and tell the truth when it's judged to be safe. Of course, that describes the behavior of pretty much everyone on the planet, so it's hard to be all that righteously indignant about it.
I reckon it all boils down to what your definition of "lie" is.
Is it a lie if unproven? Is it a lie if you simply omit certain qualifiers to mislead? Is it a lie if you actually believe it?
Christ lied and they call it a parable?
Oh well manure is manure although I prefer its more catchy title of @!$%#.
My favorite Romney lie continues to be his assertion that President Obama has no jobs plan.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/jobsact
Your message cracked me up. Obama talks about job plans close to exclusively.
It must be hard selecting the best "mendacity" quotes each week because Romney utters so many of them.
By the way, you might want to add another, similar feature about Rick Santorum, calling it something like "15th Century Wishes." Whether it's calling contraceptive evil or saying that women would be better off staying home in their "traditional" role, Santorum is as wacky as they come. I wouldn't be surprised if next he calls for allowing barbers and blood letters to perform surgery and medical exams again.
Maybe we can call it "Torquemada Revisited."
Hey, Charley, Dan barbers and blood letters will be what our health care becomes if the Republicans have their way with medicare and the health insurance reforms.
Spot on, Cathy!
This is why the conservative media is so popular. Fact challenged, low-informational conservatives must tune in and be told time and time and time and time again until a lie becomes their "truth". Democrats don't need the near-constant reinforcement to formulate their own opinions. They get it the first time.
ok bartender, I'll debate you 1 on 1 anytime. Let's see who is fact challenged.
Hey Bartender2: Don't worry about Steve ... I've got your back! By the way, great observation!
Me too!
Why is anyone surprised that Romney and the Republicans are making this up as they go along toward the elections. They are throwing everything, true and false, against the wall to see what sticks. Republicans are running out of issues that can rally the base. They are trying to sell BS to the rest of the voters because they assume those people are just as stupid as their voter base/Fox News crowd. All they have left are the social issues.
Mike not all of their base is stupid. They are ignorant because they refuse to listen outside of the bubble they are in.
If you were a republican candidate this year, you also would not dare run on the truth about your policies!
If you hear a republican politician talking about how the government in DC is broken, just remember that they are not complaining; they are bragging about what they have accomplished.
The GOP establishment is backing Romney because they lie so much themselves that they see it as a distinct advantage. The only time they speak the truth is by accident. Romney fits right into the mold.
Good post Rachel. I'm looking forward to this each week.
There is little question that Mitt Romney can no longer be called the Republican frontrunner as of this moment. He has blown it. Mitt had the clearest path to the nomination of any presidential candidate in history, yet his robotic personality and lack of coherent policy proposals got in the way. Santorum is destroying Mitt in most red primary states these days, and even nationally has taken a huge lead over Mitt. The entire primary campaign was framed by the Tea Party's hatred for Romney and their desire for another contender. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
They said that Romney was just standing by watching the other candidates go down, one after the other. Well, I don't think it was just Newt that Romney tried to slander, I think his pac examined each candidate that hit the no. 1 slot, and then spewed out the dirt he had discovered about them. It seems as if it was holier than thou, poor little Santorum that was standing in the background waiting for his moments of glory. Of course, Bachman did herself in and Perry didn't need much help.
He's writting fiction. He can't exactly run against Obama in the land of truth. If he did, he'd be the ultra rich businessman who made his money by buying and bankrupting companies, using borrowed money, running against a man who took a Harvard law degree to the Chicago ghetto and worked to put people to work and help rebuild a damaged community. He's got to turn Obama into the boogie man if he has any chance of holding his own in the election.
Well said, Matt!
Absolutely Matt!
yep the Mitt man has really turned into republican't, a lieing sack of santorum. Google it
Just remember he's playing to a group of people who demonstrably come from the "shallow end" of the gene pool. I await his debate with President Obama where he says some of this crap and not only gets called on it, but the facts are demonstrated and he is eviscerated in public and left with his mouth working and nothing coming out as he tries to breathe.
I'm wondering if Romney suffers from a genuine medical ailment - perhaps a mental illness that causes pathological or uncontrolled lying. Unfortunately, it seems difficult to treat unless it's symptomatic of other underlying conditions such as OCD, ADHD or a personality disorder. Here's an interesting article: http://www.wisegeek.com/how-is-pathological-lying-treated.htm
Fiona: When I put this out there a few weeks ago, the silence was deafening. Thank you! There IS something wrong with him -- can't say 'what', for sure, but it emanates from his aura, every time I see him... even when I try to block it out.
Fiona and Xander: there is something odd about Romney! I'm wondering if he has high functioning autism or Aspergers Disorder. It would sort of describe his robotic personality and inability to connect socially with people on the campaign trail, which has been an ongoing complaint. It could also explain compulsive behaviors like lying.
He's a dishonest, sleazy salesman and what he is trying to sell is himself, and it looks like he is going to lose the sale.
Just wondering ... Mitt claims to have saved companies during his vulture captitalist days, so what is the ratio of saved versus destroyed? Along the same lines, he says he created and saved jobs during that same time period, so what is the created/saved ratio to those that were lost?
Oh dear! Are you trying to use some kind of reason, against Willard's rationalization? :-)
No, not at all! Just wondering if some truth can come from the spin Mitt (my job for the last 8 years has beeen running for president) Romney. Why tell the truth when the rebublican sheep, I mean voters, will accept the lie?
I look forward to this every week
Agreed. Steve, we appreciate the time and effort it takes to do this, especially considering that you could take the easier road of printing everything Romney says that's actually true. I dare say you could just take the week off and still call that blog complete.
Romney is the ultimate shapeshifter. He'll say whatever he needs to say to get votes this week. Not being encumbered by one's past is an asset when you're about as authentic as the wax figures at Madame Tussauds and the only thing in which you truly believe is the need to please the audience for today's speech.
But, then, it's tough to connect with the middle class when you're born halfway between third base and home plate, and your idea of "sacrifice" is having only a 12,000 square foot home.
ooooh, excellent post.!
And a box or cage for his dog on top of the car.
Mittochio ought to try saying something true if he can tell the truth and back it up with accurate facts instead of all the lies.
unfortunately, the antics of these "good Christian" candidates, they make it seem like all Christians are outright liars. Being that they supposedly worship a god that hates liars, it makes them seem like they don't really believe at all but are manipulating a lot of people.
You are right, many I have meant are liars, selfish, and greedy. Also, many have emotional problems that they are trying to deal with and use religion as a crutch, or a therapy. I was raised as a conservative protestant so I have observed many, many so called Christians. They tend to be generous to other church members but the rest of the people are only judged by them and are probably going to Hell anyway.
I'd still take any of them over Santorum. I think down deep they all know they are full of @!$%#, but Santorum believes in his.
I liked Huntsman the best.
Fiona and Xander: I agree, there is something odd about Romney!! I'm wondering if he has High Functioning Autism or Asperger's Disorder. That would sort of explain his robotic personality and inability to connect socially with others on the campaign trail, which has been an ongoing complaint. It could also explain compulsive behaviors, like lying.
Who needs comedy when you have politics you can wake up to and go to bed to laughing behind these flip flopping clowns. I'm waiting for the president to reaffirm that the world is in fact round, and just wait around to see which republican will pop out of the woodwork to dispute this. I haven't laughed this hard since my pot smoking days of yore.
Sadly, it is more comedic than 2 1/2 men and I love that show.
I don't understand how no one is mentioning that Romney is a Mormon Bishop... Would we elect a catholic bishop for pres? It just seems like this little tidbit needs to be brought to the forefront of this discussion. My father was a clergyman i have no issues with religious people however all of the facts should be available to be able to make an informed decision.
There is a considerable difference between a Catholic bishop and a Mormon bishop, since for the most part the Mormons have a lay "clergy". That is not to say that Mormon bishops are not part of a religious hierarchy, and that they do not exercise considerable power, but in Mormonism "bishop" is a part-time, amateur position. In addition, a Mormon bishop and a Catholic bishop are not equivalent positions. A Mormon bishop is closer to a parish priest in terms of rank within the respective hierarchies. A Catholic bishop's equivalent in the Mormon hierarchy is the "stake president".
The issue of members of the Mormon hierarchy in politics has come up before now. Joseph Smith, Jr., while the head of the LDS church, was in the 1840s the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and the commander of the Nauvoo Legion (the Nauvoo branch of the Illinois state militia). Smith's assassination in 1844 was a direct outcome of an official action taken in his capacity as mayor: the destruction of an opposition newspaper, the Nauvoo Expositor. Brigham Young, while the head of the LDS church, was the first territorial governor of Utah. He was removed from that position by President Buchanan under the false pretext that Utah was in a state of rebellion against the United States.
At the national level, B.H. Roberts, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy (a permanent body in the Mormon church), was elected to the House of Representatives in 1898, but was not seated because he was a polygamist. In 1902 the monogamist Reed Smoot, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve (kinda sorta like the College of Cardinals in the Catholic church), was elected to the Senate. As in the case of B.H. Roberts, there was an inquiry into Smoot's fitness to be seated. Unlike Roberts, Smoot was eventually seated after a four-year inquiry. Another outcome of that inquiry was that the Mormon church really and truly abandoned the practice of polygamy in 1906, after it came out during the inquiry that they had their institutional fingers crossed when they officially abandoned it 16 years earlier.
It should be noted that Democrat Harry Reed, the majority leader of the Senate, is also a Mormon, that all male Mormons are members of that church's priesthood, and that consequently Reed is much a part of the Mormon "clergy" as is Romney (although as far as I know Reed was never as much as a bishop).
Mitt can't run on his record as governor since that brings up some sticky issues like his health care reform that mandated universal insurance coverage, or is religion which scares evangelicals, or his wealth, so he twists the truth about Obama. Republicans are masters at this. Its the way they got the middle class to vote against their own self interest on health care, and Wall St reform. So Mitt is taking his cues from how Republicans conduct themselveswhen speaking about issues.
On false claim 4, I don't think the correct interval is 11 days after the inauguration. The monthly job figures refer to employment on a specific day during the month. I think that Romney is holding Obama responsible for jobs lost 6 days before he was inaugurated, that is, I think January 2009 refers to January 14 2009.