Associated Press
President Obama greets troops at Camp Victory in Baghdad.
After spending the last several months paying attention to Mitt Romney's habitual dishonesty at a granular level, I've become largely inured to his more routine, casual lies. Some of the deliberate falsehoods are just too common to get upset about.
But once in a while, Romney tells a lie so blatant and offensive that it raises questions anew about the candidate's character and what standards of decency he's prepared to abandon to advance his ambitions.
As Rachel explained on the show on Thursday, voting rights in Ohio have been a mess in recent cycles, and new voter-suppression tactics imposed by state Republican lawmakers are inviting "chaos" at the polls this fall. Of particular interest is a state policy that restricts early-voting rights: active-duty troops can vote up to three days before Election Day, but no one else.
To that end, President Obama's campaign filed a lawsuit a few weeks ago, asking a federal court to "restore in-person early voting for all Ohioans during the three days prior to Election Day." Three weeks later, Romney came up with a new response to the lawsuit, posting this message to Facebook:
"President Obama's lawsuit claiming it is unconstitutional for Ohio to allow servicemen and women extended early voting privileges during the state's early voting period is an outrage. The brave men and women of our military make tremendous sacrifices to protect and defend our freedoms, and we should do everything we can to protect their fundamental right to vote. I stand with the fifteen military groups that are defending the rights of military voters, and if I'm entrusted to be the commander-in-chief, I'll work to protect the voting rights of our military, not undermine them."
Got that? Obama wants all eligible Ohio voters, including servicemen and women, to have the same ability to vote, which Romney says, in writing, means Obama is trying to "undermine" the troops' ability to vote.
This is as loathsome a lie as Romney has told all year -- and given his record, that's not an easy threshold to meet.
It's important to realize that this isn't a matter of opinion. CNN's headline over the weekend said, "Romney campaign jabs at Obama over voting rights suit." The headline on the Politico homepage yesterday said, "Obama, Mitt camps spar on military voting."
No. Wrong. No one is "jabbing" or "sparring." One candidate lied and got caught. Full stop.
Indeed, when pressed, Romney's spokesperson could point to "no place in Obama's lawsuit that seeks to restrict the rights of military voters," and Romney's legal counsel failed to "offer evidence that Obama's lawsuit would make it tougher for members of the military to vote."
After the campaign's dishonesty was exposed, Romney put a twist on his lie, saying Obama now opposes giving the troops special treatment. But even by Republican standards, this is insane -- by this reasoning, Romney supports a policy that discriminates against military veterans in Ohio who would be legally prohibited from the same early-voting rights as active-duty servicemen and women.
Does Romney want to deny special treatment for veterans of foreign wars? Does Romney think it's befitting a Commander in Chief to deny equal voting rights to those who put their lives on the line to defend the United States?
Yesterday, the Republican presidential campaign said the Obama campaign's lawsuit calling for equal voting rights is "despicable."
It's as if words no longer have any meaning, and Americans politics has become so blisteringly stupid, candidates believe they can say literally anything and get away with it.
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Meet you next president of the US! At least he doesn't murder by drones.....yet.
better them then us
RomOney is upset at the allegation? I have a GREAT idea. Release your damn tax returns like honest people do and prove it.
were still better off with the rich liar. then a poor country
Despicable is a term reserved for those who would lie, cheat, steal and even engage in other dastardly acts just to prevail in a contest to exercise power over innocent lives!
New campaign strategy for the Romney camp: Vote for Mitt Romney, the despicable candidate!
Come on Mitt, square with us and just give us more transparency on the despicable campaign you are running to get to the POTUS land! -Kevo
kevo , I think that is what they are running on :/
if he is smart enought to do all that then smart enought to get this country out of this mess we in
were still better off with the rich liar. then a poor country
@sp - Actually we already did the "rich liar" thing and ended up with a poor country. Just review your 2000-2008 history.
What about the Florida and Pennsylvania voter purges? Might not some vets or active duty troops be included? In a both-sides-do-it world, maybe this could get reported to provide "balance"
The right is looking for another W who will do as he's told as long as he gets to play President and keep whatever campaign money is left over.
Romney is perfect.
you will do the same thing if you could they all do were still better off with the rich liar. then a poor country so what he got money i like to have some to
As a mormon, myself, Mitt's lies are what turn me off to him most. A question to receive a recommend to enter LDS temples asks "are you honest in your dealings with your fellow men?" And to hear him out there day after day telling lie after lie, it just disgusts me. I know politicians aren't known as beacons of truth and honesty, but this guy takes the cake. He will lie when it's just as easy to tell the truth.
What bugs me more is how his blatant dishonesty doesn't bother most other Mormons.
you will do the same thing if you could they all do were still better off with the rich liar. then a poor country so what he got money i like to have some to your never going to fine the perfect. man lest you fine JESUS
...or an English teacher...
Brad M.,
He (?) don't need no stinkin' edumacashun, he got Ideological Soundness and Theological Correctness!!! Who could ask for anything more?
"It's as if words no longer have any meaning, and Americans politics has become so blisteringly stupid, candidates believe they can say literally anything and get away with it."
Americans politics has become so blisteringly stupid because Americans have become so blisteringly stupid. We are unable to think critically, and we believe what our media feeds us. By perpetuating this false equivalency, the media can profit from the horse race. If they were honest brokers of facts, then the populace would have to face some hard truths. No one wants that.
your right lets pray to JESUS for help
"...as if words no longer have any meaning, and Americans politics has become so blisteringly stupid, candidates believe they can say literally anything and get away with it."
"as if"? I am honestly stunned that you are this naive Rachel.
we have to choose from the lesser evil
were still better off with the rich liar. then a poor country
New troll?
Apparently. They must be really scraping the barrel over there at The Wingnut Troll Institute to send this incompetent, vapid stooge over here.
As long as the American press is asleep at the switch, the lies will work.
It is my hope that all these lies will be exposed during the debates.
But I am not optimistic.
witch is worst a man that lies ? or one that bankrupt our country praise JESUS he our god
OBAMA WILL lay off and give 80.00 pink slips to soldiers after election according to dept.of labor on joke what i heard ?
Hey Troll - You can't even spell the word "which"? It isn't "witch" you moron - that was some other tea party candidate. Get lost.
"It's as if words no longer have any meaning, and Americans politics has become so blisteringly stupid, candidates believe they can say literally anything and get away with it."
They kind of can get away with it thanks to a largely "complicit by omission of reality" media. TRMS excepted of course.
TRMS not complicit? Count how often guests do not answer questions and instead make self-serving free-air campaign statements that are themselves questionable in fact that also go unanswered if questioned at all. One could take up a whole show having to dissect even a single one of those statements on TRMS or any of the other shows.
OBAMA WILL lay off and give 80.00 pink slips to soldiers after election according to dept.of labor on joke what i heard ?
OBAMA WILL lay off and give 80.00 pink slips to soldiers after election according to dept.of labor on joke
how could it be any worst
they all do were still better off with the rich liar. then a poor country
are we better off now then we were have you not had a enough
spf
you do realize no one is paying attention to you....right?
I only commented as I feel like you believe you are actually having a conversation and I'm concerned for your mental well being!
Don't feed the trolls. Troll: get English tutor.
I'd like to know what happened to the hard drives that his staff took from government computers when he left office as Governor of Massachusetts. Is that a regular practice? Seems strange to me yet there hasn't been much discussion about it.
When Rmoney talks, bull@!$%# follows? I can't remember how that saying goes..
Obama's feckless argument is NOT that our brave Military should NOT be allowed to have three extra days to cast their votes via ABSENTEE ballot from the far reaches of battlefields in Afghanistan and hostile places such as Iraq, the South Pacific, the Korean DMZ, and elsewhere but that Ohioians that LIVE IN OHIO should also enjoy the same privilege, EVEN THOUGH they can physically enter a voting booth on November 6 and our brave men and women overseas can NOT!
It is amazing how Obama is wiling to discriminate AGAINST our military in harm's way and people around the world attempting to emigrate to the U.S. legally, while discriminating FOR those here illegally already, the New Black Panthers who engaged in voter intimidation, women who want to annihilate their preborn baby girls and boys in the sanctity of their own wombs, and sodomites and others who want to get married.
That's not even close. This has nothing to do with absentee ballots. There is no impact on them by the recently enacted laws. "After the enactment of these laws, voters using the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voter Act (“UOCAVA”) may vote early in-person at a board of elections office up through the Monday before Election Day, while non-UOCAVA voters can vote early in-person at a board of elections office (or designated alternate site) only up until 6 p.m. on the Friday before Election Day." (Obama for America, DNC and Ohio Democratic Party filing
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
EASTERN DIVISION Case No. 2:12cv00636).
The filing goes on to explain that those UOCAVA voters eligible to vote in these three days that have been removed from everyone else are those currently residing in the county in which they are registered. So by your logic, since they can physically enter a voting booth on November 6, they should not have these extra 3 days. I suggest you read the brief. All of the information you need to find it is up there. Have a look through that and then ask yourself if President Obama is trying to restrict the voting rights of the military.
notandy,
For those people it doesn't have to be close, it just has to be politically useful to them, no matter how false it is.
Obama's feckless argument is NOT that our brave Military should NOT be allowed to have three extra days to cast their votes via ABSENTEE ballot from the far reaches of battlefields in Afghanistan and hostile places such as Iraq, the South Pacific, the Korean DMZ, and elsewhere but that Ohioians that LIVE IN OHIO should also enjoy the same privilege, EVEN THOUGH they can physically enter a voting booth on November 6 and our brave men and women overseas can NOT!
It is amazing how Obama is wiling to discriminate AGAINST our military in harm's way and people around the world attempting to emigrate to the U.S. legally, while discriminating FOR those here illegally already, the New Black Panthers who engaged in voter intimidation, women who want to annihilate their preborn baby girls and boys in the sanctity of their own wombs, and sodomites and others who want to get married.
Remember when you were a kid (if you're over about 45 or so), before the days of video games, and you were playing army and in the middle of a faux battle you called a time-out to go pee. You ran inside, peed, and ran back outside and resumed the fight.
You know, our brave men and women caught in a firefight or out on patrol getting ambushed can't call time out to the Taliban and say, "Hey, can you hold off on trying to blow me up for another three days, I got to go vote early because the Democrats are trying to prevent me from voting against our putative Commander in Chief?!"
More despicable behavior from the Democrats!
SPEAKING OF BLATANT LIES, I ENJOY TOTAL RECALL . . .
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=478256922186535&set=a.125048467507384.20094.100000066932528&type=1&theater
I spent most of the afternoon yesterday on a couple of faux (or in support of) military sites debunking the claim that Obama was trying to shorten the voting window for the military. Information on the suit and several links to the facts appeared to have very little affect. The 'noxious fumes' from the commenters was almost too much to handle. Those people flatout do not want to know the truth. Btw, while I was out-and-about on the internet, I checked Fox news page on this story. That appears to be where those sites obtained their erroneous information. I sent 'corrective' information and links to FOX's info address with an additional personal comment of 'shame, shame, shame on you.' This morning, they seem to have changed their tune. I'm not saying I had anything to do with it, but these sites and FOX need to be called out when this stuff shows up online. We can't afford to just sit back and play on facebook or whatever. Get the facts and throw it at 'em....and just ignore all the name-calling. ;)
The Democrats have a long history of trying to suppress the military vote. Gore did it in 2000.
Obama is desperate and a desperate man is taking despicable action. Shame on Obama and his campaign.
Kathleen Harris is a Florida Republican.
yes he need to go its the best thing for us all
Please provide facts about Democratic military voter suppression. Otherwise, you are adding to the crappola that's piling up. And you don't want to do that, now, do you? Shame shame shame.
Those on the right are devoid of conscience and incapable of shame.
@jennicat, you are absolutely correct! Don't forget yahoo too! What is so sad is that these people won't check facts...Unfortunately ignorant people want to remain ignorant..What are their options? Admit they're wrong?
<<<It's as if words no longer have any meaning, and Americans politics has become so blisteringly stupid, candidates believe they can say literally anything and get away with it.>>>
Gee, how long has *that* been going on?
This surprises no one outside of a few astonished Amish.
The Obama lawsuit is http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/litigation/documents/ObamaforAmericavHustedcomplaint.pdf
It clearly shows that Romney and the military organizations fighting the lawsuit are wrong in their complaint. This is too bizzare to be real. There must be something else going on.
I ran across this story on a conservative website this weekend and I can tell you that most of the commenters believed it. Even when given all the facts - and the facts were discussed in the thread - most of them believed Obama was stupid for taking this up as an issue because it makes him look like he's trying to disenfranchise military voters.
I think Romney's lies fool a lot of people, but I don't know how much they affect the regular voter who isn't steeped in the minutia of political debate like Maddow viewers tend to be. It makes me very nervous though.