Associated Press
Several weeks ago, I launched a new Friday afternoon feature, highlighting the most offensive Mitt Romney falsehoods of the week. It moved to Maddow Blog a couple of weeks ago, so let's keep this going with this week's installment.
1. At CPAC, Romney vowed, "I will finally balance the American budget, and as I'm sure you know, that will start with the easiest cut of all: I will eliminate Obamacare."
This is just bizarre. The Affordable Care Act cuts the deficit considerably; trying to balance the budget by killing the law is ridiculous.
2. Also at CPAC, Romney promised, "I will cut off funding for the United Nations Population Fund which supports China's barbaric one-child policy."
This is a common lie on the right, but UNFPA does not support the one-child policy, and cutting off funding for the fund -- a fund that enjoyed broad, bipartisan support as recently as Bush's first term -- would be a real example of barbarism.
3. In trying to lower expectations, Romney claimed he won the Michigan primary in 2008 "by two points," adding, "[I]t was pretty darned close."
In reality, Romney won Michigan by more than nine points.
4. In a statement, Romney claimed, "This week, President Obama will release a budget that won't take any meaningful steps toward solving our entitlement crisis. The president has failed to offer a single serious idea to save Social Security and is the only president in modern history to cut Medicare benefits for seniors."
Not only does the second sentence contradict the first, but Obama didn't cut Medicare benefits for seniors.
5. Complaining about the auto industry rescue, Romney claimed, "While a lot of [GM] workers and investors got the short end of the stick, Obama's union allies -- and his major campaign contributors -- reaped reward upon reward, all on the taxpayer's dime."
That's really not what happened.
6. Romney claimed this week, "My campaign hasn't run any negative ads against Rick Santorum."
Well, that depends on how one defines "campaign."
7. Trying to take credit for the auto-industry-rescue policy he opposed, Romney claimed "the course I recommended was eventually followed."
8. Romney said the "real unemployment rate" is actually 15%.
9. On contraception access, Romney's campaign published an online petition arguing, "The Obama administration is ... now using Obamacare to impose a secular vision on Americans who believe that they should not have their religious freedom taken away."
Jon Chait argued recently that Romney appears to be "an audacious liar," adding, "Even by the standards of politicians, Romney seems unusually prone to dishonesty."
The former governor doesn't appear eager to change this perception anytime soon.
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I hope Mittens doesn't try to mend his audacious mendacity any time soon. This is too much fun.
Provided he doesn't actually make it to the White House. If the economy implodes because, say, war breaks out with Iran, then we may as start sewing Masonic symbols on our underwear right now no matter what nonsense spills out of Romney's pie hole.
Did anyone think Mitwit was describing a medical condition that renders one unable to provide a stool sample when he said he was "severely conservative"?
"The Obama administration is ... now using Obamacare to impose a secular vision on Americans who believe that they should not have their religious freedom taken away."
This one is going to come back and bite him in the ass. Some old lady ala the one who stood up at McCain's town hall and said Obama's an Arab is going to stand up at one of his and repeat it.
If he gets the nomination he will be defending his bold faced lies to moderate independent voters
Considering if they got rid of birth control I wonder how married men and single men will enjoy all those alimony payments. I am sure men will just use to paying out their money for extra children.
He really does come off as a shameless liar, and a very wealthy one at that. It's hard for me to imagine a majority of voters supporting this hypocrite in November.
Have you ever worked with someone who had serious problems with discerning the truth? Or had a family member who was a pathological liar? It is very difficult to function around such people.
Now imagine who would go to work for President Mitt as one of his key advisers? Speechwriters? What quality of people would these people be? How long would they last?
Tell me about it. I was once married to one of those and it was deadly always trying to figure out what was really going on and watching your back to make sure you weren't about to be stabbed.
What is the most compelling book written about the Political "god game"? I mean what people referred to as the "reality distortion field" around Steve Jobs. In literature, it is the sort of reality bending capacity of the "Magus" in John Fowles' novel of the same name.
Because it isn't just Romney- It's like what happened to Hilary when she was recounting her memories of visiting Bosnia. It some cases it is deliberate and has a leadership value- as in the case of Jobs. In most cases, it is overworking the projected persona, over-riffing on a theme or worse, believing your own BS.
Anyway, does anyone know of any books or articles with a sort of cognitive science or psychological treatment of this subject?
Just take any book, preferably a large one, and smack him upside the head. It won't stop his lying, but you will probably feel better.
Perhaps Buchanan's "Suicide of a Superpower" would suffice, although its title is a bit overstated. "Suicide of a Political Reactionary" is more apt.
Dorothy Parker has a saying for this sort of literature. "This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." Never considered she was discussing a weapon for murder of anything other than the English language.
I tried to add this word to the Urban Dictionary, but They haven't accepted it yet. Maybe I didn't submit it right, but it seems to fit the behavior of the GOP this season:
"Contravesty, n, a contrived or fake travesty, made up in order to raise to high the dudgeon of a political base for cynical partisan purposes."
Feel free to use as required to ridicule the pompous jackasses mercilessly.
Its lying time again. Hurumph-caught me a twenty-four pound crappie. I used a twenty pound cricket for bait.
As Bob Dylan put it
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is
getting late”
All along the watchtower,
princes kept the view
While all the women came and went,
barefoot servants, too
-
The old saw "how do we know he is lying? -His lips are moving" applies with certitude to Mitt.
It is also disconcerting to see his mouth far outpace his cognitive skills- hence the stammering speech as he searches for yet another "fact" to make his point.
Romney is a full-throated neo-conservative. He says that we should not have ended the War in Iraq. He opposes the plan to draw-down troops in Afghanistan. In addition, he has shown a strong inclination to drag the United States into an extremely expensive and brutal new war with Iran. Romney refuses to raise any new revenue with which to pay for his grandiose and exorbitant military policy. And, on top of that, Romney claims that he's going to balance the budget?
He lies about things that don't matter, he tells lies that are easily shown to be false. This is not how a mentally healthy human being behaves.
Mitt Romney has reached (descended to) the level of Palin credibility. Soon, we'll be hearing from him and his staff that there is an all-out media attack against him. Mitt lives for recognition and nothing more. The pundits should ignore the obvious at this point and start talking about how many seats the GOP is going to lose.
Did anyone else hear something else when Mittwitt described himself as "severely conservative" (a medical condition that renders one unable to provide a stool sample)?
Judging by his tithing as reported in his tax return, he is a faithful Mormon. If so, I would dearly love to have someone with authoritative knowledge of the Mormon attitude toward lying explain just how much Mitt's behavior crosses the line. Is it a value that is important or not so important in the Mormon scheme of things?
It's all going to come down to the debates and if the moderators let Romney lie or dodge around the question and change the subject. Most people that don't follow politics and watch the debate will have no idea of the lies and different positions Romney has took to appease the audience. The moderator must really press Romney and not let him get away with it, no matter how long it takes. And Obama too but that will be few and far between seriously.
Would be really funny if Jim Lerher had all of these articles on standby just to catch Mitt in the act
PBS staff should read these chronicles too