Today's edition of quick hits:
* Turkey's military action against Syria is a major development worth watching.
* Libya: "A team of U.S. investigators traveled to the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Thursday to visit the compound where the U.S. ambassador was killed in an attack last month, Libyan security sources said."
* A labor breakthrough: "Today, for the first time in Wal-Mart's 50-year history, workers at multiple stores are out on strike."
* A day after major Iranian protests: "Most merchants in Tehran's grand bazaar reopened for business on Thursday as an unusually large number of police officers were deployed around the city's black-market money trading district, witnesses reported, a day after a crackdown on suspected speculators led to civil disturbances and a large protest march by Iranians demanding relief from the plummeting value of the currency, the rial."
* Imagine that: "The health insurance industry presented itself as a key ally of President Barack Obama's health care law while at the same time making hefty contributions to members of Congress who are trying to get rid of it, according to contribution records."
* Oh my: "Community leaders are demanding the resignation of a Maine mayor who said Somali immigrants living in his city should 'accept our culture and leave your culture at the door.'"
* Steve M. has an interesting item looking at debate focus groups. His report concludes, "Romney is still a guy with a sleazy reputation. Obama is still a guy most non-wingnuts trust. So I don't feel as bad today as I did last night."
* Fox really isn't good with economic statistics: "Fox Business anchor Cheryl Casone set an unreasonable standard for weekly jobless claims, stating that the figure needed to dip to 200,000 or lower to show a healthy labor market -- a level that hasn't been reached in over 40 years."
* What was KitchenAid thinking? "The company KitchenAid is primarily involved in the business of making cakes. But their Twitter account stirred up some political ire last night when it tweeted a 'joke' about President Obama's dead grandmother. "
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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Enthusiasm gap?
Report: Obama Hauls In Record $150 Million In September
President Obama's campaign set a monthly record for the 2012 cycle in September, hauling in more than $150 million, according to the Wall Street Journal:
Obama also raised $150 million in September of 2008, as Roll Call's Steven Dennis points out.
More like enthusiasm versus mania. The right is in a frenzy as they try to please various sects of crazies yet the DNC just keeps chugging on without stoking the fire with insanity and fear.
I put in my small amounts. More than once...
The best support is to Vote--if the right lets you.
What was KitchenAid thinking? This, I guess:
"I would like to personally apologize to President @BarackObama, his family and everyone on Twitter for the offensive tweet sent earlier."
...
"It was carelessly sent in error by a member of our Twitter team who, needless to say, won't be tweeting for us anymore."
If Sununu were running KitchAid, the person that tweeted that crap about Obama's grandmother would be a CEO now. Sad when anything goes in politics anymore. As a few people have compared it to a WWF smack down, that is the mentality of the teapubs, but it fits. The WWF is a big fake and so is Willard and the teapubs.
I reckon it is a good thing I hardly ever use that old kitchenaid stand up mixer. I had thoughts of getting some attachments like a meat grinder just so I could fins a use for it. Not now though.(I would toss it out but my mother bought it before I was even born-ain't no new crap gonna last that long)
Reading the comments on this blog is like reading from an alternative universe that has no basis in reality.
Mr. Romney excelled in last nights debate, because he spoke the truth about the economy.
King Obama has no clothes.....time to move on.
Thank you for your in depth analysis.
Please Please Please America, recognize candidate Romney for who he is, what he represents and most important of all whose interests he is out to advance. (hint: they're not your interests) American politics arent really about Republicans and Democrats 2012, it's about the 99 versus the 1, the "takers" versus the "makers". Mr. Romneys "sleazy reputation" will persist all the way to election day, we dont have to worry about him closing that gap, because he will continue to obfuscate his true positions on every issue. The reason is that his policies, and by and large, the policies of his party are wildly, massively unpopular with a plurality of the American people. Does anyone think wall street needs less regulation? Does anybody think we need to be investing in big oil and coal? Does anybody want a medicare voucher program, or to turn social security over to Goldman Sachs? Do we need more money in politics? Do we want to overturn Roe v Wade? Do we want to increase defense spending and decrease domestic spending? Do we want the deficit to continue to grow? Do we want Washington to exert legislative control over a womans body? Do we want more Patriot Act's? Do we want another war in the middle east? Do we want corporations to continue their rape of the average American? Do we want to continue our idiotic and draconian wars on drugs and immigration? Do we want more voter suppression? Do we want to bust the few remaining unions? Do we want to roll back the social contract we have relied on for 80 years? Do we want Mitt Romney? It is a sad state of affairs that the party of Eisenhower has been reduced to a pathetic front for the religious right, Neo Conservatives and big business (the unholy trinity). Americans, please vote this November, and please try to learn as much as you possibly can about your choices this fall so you can make an informed decision... 2 cents over.
Everytime Romney talking about creating good paying jobs, I think about all of the companies that Bain took over that had good paying jobs. They loaded the company down with debt, slashed wages, cut jobs and sucked the life out of it. We are now left with office cleaners striking for $9 jobs; warehouse workers passing out from working conditions; and Contract truck drivers bidding as low as they can to haul loads across the country. If they are contract workers, the company doesn't have to pay them normal benefits or cover their insurance. Good paying jobs, my a$$.
Suppose Obama wasn't disengaged but distracted during the debate. After all, it appears that State, the UN and NATO officials were working overtime to keep Turkey and Syria from escalating their conflict into a war. Could it be that our President was concerned about a seriously explosive situation overseas while Romney was waxing poetic about Big Bird?
He sure doesn't appear to be distracted. He had time last week to appear on the View and Letterman. It doesn't look so cool now, does it?
Maybe if he has spent some time meeting with his jobs council and attending security briefings, he wouldn't seem so disinterested in the debate topics.
alzie, you do know the difference between last night and last week, don't you?
Willard has been 'unemployed' for the past 10 years. He's had plenty of time to prepare. On the other hand our President has been engaged in multiple events both foreign and domestic which he has been handling admirably.
Please regal us with the recap of Willard's foreign tour again starting with pissing off all of Great Britain where his fancy dancing horse failed to medal.
Thank you.
If you think Obama lost the debate then here is a suggestion. Stand up and say "I've got your back". The right is all over the place repeating lies and trying to drown out any news that goes against their candidates. The left seems content to share their views with like minded people but unwilling to speak up when surrounded by foxian rants. Tell that uncle why he is wrong. return those right winged emails with a copy of the facts that disprove them at least let the maddened crowd at the bar know you are a lefty and let them hear you laugh at the FOX reporter that is on the TV above their heads.
The shock will do them good.
Don't ignore the news out of Iran. The economic sanctions imposed because of their nuclear enrichment program are drastically devaluing the Iranian currency. People are buying dollars at a fantastic rate. Merchants and consumers alike are getting frightened and P.O'd. Either protests or heavy-handed restrictions will continue and escalate. Ahmo's and the imams' popularity is plummeting even among the urban merchant class that was their strong support group.
Basically, the sanctions are destabilizing the Iranian Government. How about that?
There is NO reason to believe the Republican'ts
They like to make bogus promises and predictions.
They tell you lies about the future to elect them.
When was the last time they held on to their word?
What have Republican'ts done for America in the last 40 years?
Republican'ts want you to trust them but are you verifying that trust?
Did you look at the cause for the national debt?
Did you notice that it is all Republican't policies?
Did you notice that Obama spent to fix Republican't failed policies.
Did you know that Obama's fixes are working?
Did you know that we need more fixes?
Did you know that the Republican'ts do not want those fixes?
Did you know that Republican'ts want to bring back the same failed policies?
Do you think that Republican'ts deserve to be in power?
What have they done to earn it?
Republican't polices have created a massive national debt of $16 TRILLION.
Do you think that Romney, Mr. 1%, Mr. anti-47%, Mr. "I like to fire people" is looking out for you?
Romney / Lyan have been in the middle of all the country's problems.
They're the cause.
They want more "redistribution of debt" from their interests to you.
Did you know that the tax cuts they give out are coming back in superpac accounts?
Do you know who is paying for their campaign?
Why do they have have secret MILLIONS overseas?
Why are they lying so much?
You need answers.
Good luck!
Because of Mr. Lehrer's inability to control the debate and rein in Mitt's campaign ranting, I have learned a new term; "gish gallop", appropriately named after Duane Gish, a pro-Creationist debater. So, every cloud has a silver lining. I've often wished for a word to describe someone who uses an endless stream of bull to "win" an argument. On any midway at a carnival you'll find people trained to do just that. They are usually referred to as "snake oil salesmen", but, gish gallop is more specific to a debate ploy and, as such, should take its rightful place in the lexicon.
One might wonder if the Koch foundation funded this debate.
KitchenAid needs to discipline that tweeter because I am not inclined to buy that brand now, whereas I was thinking it was a great brand of appliances.
More importantly--it's electric so the right won't buy it anyway. I mean where's the thunder and fumes? No they will keep using their black and decker 6 horse mower motor as a mixer.
Please, please, please America see Obama for what he is, un-prepared to lead a second term. Obama was un-prepared for the debate and regardless of what talking heads say about the past 8 election debates, Obama cannot lead. The way the press is trying to spin the disappointment Obama presented during the first debate as just a happening or not important to the grand election is an insult to all thinking american tax payers.
ok, i see what our President is. last night he was a decent, intelligent, courteous, man. he was honestly trying to debate the equivalent of a sewage pump with an inexhaustible supply of fecal matter.
he was quite well prepared as he had facts to counter the stream of crap that you seem to have drunk from so deeply. some say he seemed tired or distracted. anyone doing his job, particularly as well as he seems to be doing it, would be tired and distracted. the debate was a tiresome distraction from the business of running the country in our present domestic and international situation.
i do not trust romney to run the country. he is shallow, unselfcritical, incurious, totally without empathy and woefully unprepared for the high office he aspires to.
all of his experience is in the business sector and the government is not a business. the government is there to provide services for all of it's citizens that they cannot provide for themselves. romney's experience has only taught him that he can buy, with his obscenely great personal wealth, anything he needs. he can not even imagine that anybody, except the "takers" like veterans, the retired, the disabled and any other disadvantaged, have any reason to complain in our current economy. after all, he has his and you might even have yours.
you seem to think that only "taxpayers" need be insulted. i have a bit of information for you - everybody pays taxes! the only insults from last night's debate are to the intelligence of the american voters as they were bombarded with lies, flip-flops and a continuous stream of $hit by romney uncleverly disguised as a sales pitch.
the President is not perfect but at least he won't get us into a war by lying and ramping-up fear. he handles diplomacy as he should, without swagger and by talking with our "enemies" rather than telling them how it's going to be and threatening military action at the slightest provocation. you know - walk softly...
as for a second term, i hope the republican party decides to try to help the country out of it's current mess rather than the present attitude of "if it's good for him it's bad for us" as there will be no reason to deny him a second term once he is reelected.
there is no "them" there is just us. lets actually try for jobs, jobs, jobs and not for the banning of abortion, regressive tax policies, deregulation and all of the policies that have contributed to the present debacle.
Romney's newest relies on "non-partisan" www.american.com which happens to be the American Enterprise Institute. Non-partisan?
Romney's latest ad relies upon a non-partisan institution and shows www.american.com. This happens to be The American Enterprise Institute. Non-partisan?
ROMNEY CHEATING WITH CRIB NOTES? YOUTUBE VIDEO.
Rachel, Check it out as only you can! LOve ya! VIDEO from FB:
http://radiomankc.blogspot.com/2012/10/video-was-romney-cheating-during-debate.html