Mitt Romney has spent much of August complaining bitterly about the tone of the presidential campaign. He's accused President Obama repeatedly of making "personal attacks." He recently told an Ohio audience, "Take your campaign of division and anger and hate back to Chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reuniting America."
Much of the political establishment agreed. Obama's team is pushing the race into the "gutter." The president is making the race too "small." Why, oh why, Republicans have cried, can't the campaign be about substance and issues?
Ahem.
For those who can't watch clips online, Romney told a Michigan audience, "Now, I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital; I was born in Harper Hospital. No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate -- they know that this is the place that we were born and raised."
The Republican crowd cheered and applauded.
Tell us again, Mitt, about the scourge of personal attacks and how desperate you are for the campaign to claim the high road.
Maybe Romney was trying to be funny? Not according to a campaign spokesperson, who said the candidate "was just illustrating he was born and raised here in Michigan."
Right, of course. And if you believe that, I have a bridge to nowhere I'd love to sell you.
Some of the same folks who've been complaining about the tone of the campaign are immediately embracing a false equivalency: "Obama makes Seamus the dog reference, Romney makes birther reference. Smallness of our politics is amazing."
It's true that the president made a joke last week in Iowa. "During a speech a few months ago, Governor Romney even explained his energy policy," Obama said. "This is what he said; he said, 'You can't drive a car with a windmill on it.' That's what he said about wind power -- you can't drive a car with a windmill on it. I mean, maybe he's tried it; he's put other things on the roof."
Maybe you found the joke funny, maybe you didn't. But can we at least agree there's a qualitative difference here? Poor ol' Seamus really did get stuck on the roof of Romney's car, while the birther garbage is based on a racist conspiracy theory with no basis in reality.
For that matter, Romney's the one who's spent the last several weeks whining incessantly about personal attacks and the tone of the race. Is this how Romney intends to claim the high road? By echoing Donald Trump? Is this a new approach to "reuniting America"?
Leave a Comment:
Amazing how stupid Romney can be. Of course they didn't ask for his birth certificate, he's WHITE! But at least the state where Obama was born is actually going to vote for him. Michigan is embarrassed that he was born there. BTW, I was born there too.
If Romney wants to improve the quality of the debate, here's a suggestion: he should personally and publicly disavow the entire "birther" movement. In that way he MAY be able to play this embarrassing episode off as an innocent joke.
Compare to Obama when the crowd booed the Republican Congress. A lesser man like Romney might have said something derogatory. Off the cuff, Obama said the smartest thing I have heard from a candidate: "Don't boo: vote"
Uh, he has said on more than one occasion and said it again when asked by CBS today that President Obama's citizenship is a "settled" matter but I'm sure he appreciates the advice.
The president showed us his birth certificate. Mitt still has not showed us his taxes.
President born in USA (verified).
Mitt has nothing to hide in his taxes (? Still don't know!)
If your show would really like to make some news, call the press staff for "Lingle for Senate" campaign in the Ahola State and ask for a reaction. Gov. Lingle toke a lot of heat in Hawaii for negative remarks she made about Obama's connections (or lack there of) to the 50th state while campaigning for McCain-Palin in Nevada and Colorado (the out-of-state stuff was a kicker). Really curious to hear Lingle's reaction?
While the racism in Birtherism has been mentioned a lot, I think it's important to note that I don't think if BHO was born in Wichita where his mom was that it would stick as much. Recall Hawaii didn't join the Union with full statehood until 1959 even though the first efforts go back as far as 1841! Main reason against statehood was racism towards Southeast Asians.
The unbelievable ineptness of Romney - of course no one in Michigan, let alone the whole US would ask for his birth cert - he's a white man. Just another sublime racist gaffe from the Empty Suit.
.Apparently he thinks the discrimination and racism in his party is funny.
Very well said.
His father did spend time in Mexico so he could have all his wives. How do we know Willard wasn't born there? We should see his birth certificate!
Mitt Romney's Birth Certificate has been available on-line since May:
Birth Certificate
Remember how Donald Trump made a big deal about President Obama's? How since it said "Certificate of Live Birth" that meant it wasn't a "real" birth certificate?
What is Mitt Romney's? Certificate of Live Birth.
{silence from the Donald .....................................................}
Why would anyone care where you were born, ya hoser!
Well... we haven't gotten to the birth certificate yet. I still would like his tax returns examined.
I started to get annoyed over this birther dig, but realized that was a waste of time.
We need better questions asked about the stuff Romney is avoiding or obscuring. We need people asking him how he can truly be an effective president if he makes blatantly false attacks on political opponents and how that will make for a bi-partisan, cohesive government. We need a more clearly written example of whatever Human Life Amendment he would favor, since right now they just have an unwritten one, so any exceptions are not written down. How do his tax returns reflect that he is an American job creator with his wealth?
We need to see if he can deal with criticisms of his plans and deal with them constructively. That is a job skill and not just for presidents. Ok, if people find the fault with tax plan, is it Romney's coping tactic to live in denial or can he make it better? If in the past, people haven't wanted to elect him on the basis of his plans, someone needs to ask the American people are you better off then finding out his plans after he's elected? Is he in favor of voter suppression?
If he goes with the birthers, is that part of his new immigration policy? Keep asking for proof but refusing to accept the validity of it? At what point, would he be able to say, the facts may not be what he wants, but he can work with them?
He complains about Obama's campaign tactics... OK, to quote Gandhi, can he be the change he wants to happen? Can he start showing examples where he found out his ads were false and he took them down?
Great post. Your thoughtful questions would be perfect at an Obama/Romney debate.
Mork and Mindy Ann were really born on Ork. Show us your birth certificate aliens.
Regarding the controversy over the "short form" vs the "long form" of birth certificate, I don't know if other states do the same thing, but when I chose to order the "long form" of my birth certificate in order to get a passport the only difference between the short and long forms sent out by the State of Illinois was that the long form has a large empty space in the bottom half of the piece of paper it's printed on. The information is the same, the printed part is the same size as the short form, it's just printed on a longer sheet of paper. It actually doesn't even give the time of my birth, which the hospital certificate has written on it quite clearly, and no fancy embossed seal, either, which the hospital certificate also has. The hospital certificate is also signed by both the doctor who delivered me and the nun who assisted him while the official Illinois birth certificate has no signature of the doctor. Yet the birth certificate is considered legal while the hospital certificate isn't. Le sigh.
Steve - suggest you add this to your mendacity list as well. All President and Vice President candidates must prove they were born in the US to get on the ballot. ALL candidates have had to do this, not just Obama.
MMMMMike
Forgive me, but I'm going to go a little off topic here. I'm just so disgusted with the state of politics in this nation. I've always been a centrist, not too far left, not too far right. Over the years I've voted for some democratic, and some republican canidates, but this was back at a time when politicians knew how to compromise, and work across party lines, and believed in putting the good of the country ahead of the good of their party, and their political donors.
Now our political system has become so polarized, and while both parties are guilty of it, I think the republicans are currently worse, but they fillibuster, protest, whatever it takes to prevent the other party from passing any legislature.
I remember back it the 80s when the moral majority was at it's height, and it was basically a joke among the mainstream, and neither political party wanted anything to do with them. While the moral majority no longer exists, that demographic is driving a good portion of the republican platform.
Damn it, lets stop with the polarization, and try and work togethter, and get this country fixed. I'm sick to death of all the political games, backbiting, blogs from the readers that are finding fault, and trading insults with each other. If you don't have something productive to say, don't say it.
I'm sure you're not alone in your disgust. I would even bet there are sites, where if you said you wanted the level of political debate to rise higher and you made accountability for this a personal voting issue, you would find support. I don't know where those sites are, but I am sure there are people who would agree. The thing with moderates/centrists is they're not as vocal as the extremists, since they're more governed by moderation. But I'm sure you have a lot of company in your concerns. It's up to us as citizens to ask for what we want *and* to recognize/acknowledge when things improve. Positive feedback is often overlooked when people do the "right" things.
Bill Moyers put out a video where he tells people not to wring their hands over what's happening but to get over it. He said people should send their concerns to his site and ... well I don't remember exactly what he said; however there was a hint of possible action/discussion.
* * * *
It's funny/ironic... When people would talk of the need for a political third party, I would think the moderates from the left and right needed to get together for one political party. Leave the extremists on either side to make up the two remaining parties. I'm a liberal, so I guess I'd get left out of the middle, but I think the moderates could work together. Although the values are key separators...
Bill Moyers has my high respect as a level headed, calm mannered guy that wants a discussion of issues. He is very intelligent and knows how to conduct interviews in a way that is not extreme.
I'd also like to discuss issues, but we are having to keep going back to ideology and there are quite a lot of accusations against Obama that are just not true. Also the challengers is not telling us their plan, just I will bring rainbows and butterflies, but the tax cuts and Medicare cuts are going to balance the budget when? They are not being honest over there.
Food for thought.....The Republican party's platform mandates that life begins at conception. If Mitt was conceived when his father was in Mexico, then by the GOP's own beliefs, would make Mitt ineligible to be president.
LOVE THIS!
People from the planet Kolop should not complain about birther issues ... it's beneath their teachings ... and the God of Kolop would not like it!
Obama's comment is based on a Mitt Romney quote and what he had actually done and admitted doing, it is a cheap shot but it means nothing. It doesn't speak to anything more than an unthinking person's counter to that that want to pretend they don't understand (Romney's Windmill statement). Romney's, "No one has ever asked..." line is a subtle nod to birthers and a way to imply Obama isn't really American, in effect saying, " You are questionable, suspect, not quite right, inferior." Now this might be a stretch but it wasn't until 1978 the the Mormon Church, "reversed a long-standing policy excluding men of black African descent from the priesthood." (see, 1978 Revelation on Priesthood: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_Revelation_on_Priesthood). In fairness I'd rather judge Mitt Romney not by 1 statement, but by the standard outlined by this statement; "Release of the document, while it might serve a political purpose, would not prove very much, he argued. One year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show, and what mattered in personal finance was how a man conducted himself over the long haul." George W Romney.
Note Romney when compared to his father's actions, he is even 1/4th the man his father was.
Additionally his church teaches in their Doctrines and Covenants 58:26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is acompelled in all things, the same is a bslothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
It appears to me the Mitt Romney has to commanded in all things, what to say, what not to say, to state where he lives, to state where he works, what he believes.... Do you want a slothful person running your country?
This is a racist comment. There is no other way to interpret this. Joke or not, it relies on the listener to make an obvious assessment as to just why Mitt Romney hasn't had his birth certificate questions and President Obama has. Because Obama isn't white. Mitt has made references to Obama being foreign and not-American, but this translates into 'not one of us'.
He knows that many Republicans just cannot accept this President as legitimate - and he must have felt he was in a friendly crowd for this joke to be 'ok'. And he probably was.
But there are many questions we have asked Romney to answer and he has indicated that he will not share information because we might criticize it. Which means we might find it objectionable.
Romney tends to accuse President Obama of things that he is actually doing. In this case, Romeny made a vile joke while accusing President Obama of making vile statements.
I just hope this isn't reported on as a 'distraction'. This isn't incidental. It is an insight into this man and should trigger us to mistrust him to be a leader of ALL Americans.
I would like to tell Mitt he is no comedian. If you want to give us a good laugh, release your income tax information. Please stop telling people you are from Michigan. And we would really appreciate it if you would take crazy "Uncle Ted" Nugent with you when you exit the state so he will stop telling people he is from Michigan too. ~A Proud Michigander
Someone should ask Ann what it's like to be married to someone who is just mean.
Why don't I want this guy to be President?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PkWf9M3rUw&feature=related
just couldn't say it better than Carlin did.
Ann and Mitt are beyond rich and could care about anybody but themselves. They don't care about this country - just how important they will be! The power they will have and what they can do with it. They will be helping their rich friends, and distroying the poor and middle class by higher taxes, cutting programs that help Americans.
President Obama is trying to help the American people, but everything is shot down by the Republican comgress - people like Paul Ryan, who was voted in by the people he is trying to distroy.
Wake up American and think!! They want to change social security - which I'm on, take away all the programs that help the poor - who can't find jobs, which will more of under Mitt because he has a history of firing people to make profits. What about the programs that help women - gone!!! What about tax breaks for the rich - improved and average American pays more.... Life will go on no matter who is president, but do you want someone who thinks of all American or just a percentage of them. Mitt don't care about you unless you're rich... It's time to say I'm not a Republican or Democrat - I'm an American and no fellow American should go within in this country. If you don't care about helping people with no jobs and can't afford to live - then think of the millions of kids going hungary because Republicans want to cut for the poor!!!!
We should ask Romney for his birth Certificate; he is so out of touch with American's I just can't believe he was born here. So, Mitt, where is your birth certificate?
So what happens when Romney's birth certificate question comes up again and someone asks him if the children of an anchor baby should be allowed to have citizenship?