2012 U.S. Presidential Election

[PanzerJaeger]

Anyhow, I get the point about working together. But I do think the way Obama phrased it was very, very poor.

Indeed, it was exactly what you would expect from a man who has never run a business. Yes, yes, I know the comment was made in the midst of the standard liberal straw man on taxes (as if anyone is actually arguing for no taxation), but it reads like a Freudian slip. If you've spent your life in academia and on the government dole and never actually had to take a loan out against your house to make payroll, it's very easy to view business as dependent on the state's largess. It wasn't your time, resources, and soul that built that internet business - it was Al Gore. The reality is quite different, however. Without the business community, Al wouldn't have had the tax base to invest in the military's internet R&D budget. Whether Obama cares to admit it or not, business was here long before the government built the interstates or the internet - and paid for much of both of them.

In general, the attacks on business and wealth creation disgust me more than the overt racial appeals and class warfare. I fear the GOP simply doesn't have the time or resources to explain creative destruction to an American public completely detached from the realities of globalism and the international business environment.

Edit: Also, I think Romney needs to go nuclear on Obama. The president has set the tone... err... lowered the bar... early this cycle, and, unfortunately, Romney needs to follow suit or go the way of John Kerry. It's time to bust out the s-word.

[a completely inoffensive name]

In general, the attacks on business and wealth creation disgust me more than the overt racial appeals and class warfare. I fear the GOP simply doesn't have the time or resource to explain creative destruction to an American public completely detached from the realities of globalism and the international business environment.

Tbh I think you are just reading too much into a reality you have painted in your own head. Talking about class warfare is rush's territory.

[Major Robert Dump]

I knew these girls once who would shoplift as a team

The hot one would show her breasts, and the fat one would run out with the beer

By giving us free boobies,

The government steals all of our beer


I cannot beieve GM and the Green Energy stimulus is actually being used as a pro-Obama campaign message. The fact that they are certainly shows how jacked up things are, and what we consider successful.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Yep, ineffectual leadership on the part of the GOP has prompted hardliners to urge a "go bold or go home" response, even among the non religious like PJ. This is the essence of how politics as a game destroys a liberal democracy from the inside out.

[Lemur]

The president has set the tone... err... lowered the bar... early this cycle, and, unfortunately, Romney needs to follow suit or go the way of John Kerry. It's time to bust out the s-word.

Actually, if you remember from the primaries, candidate Romney's complaints sound an awful lot like what we were hearing from Santorum, Gingrich, et al. This means Romney is more than capable of going negative when he sees a profit in it. And as soon as he sees a stronger upside than downside to attacking candidate Obama personally, he will do so. Romney is nothing if not practical and opportunistic.

In fact, Romney's surrogates and spokescreatures (Sununu in particular) spent the last two days qustioning the American-ness of Obama. I suspect they did this in an attempt to fire up the base, which is not (and may never be) enthusiastic about Romney.

I think Romney is in a funny position; most Americans like Obama the person, even if they disagree with Obama the politician. (I know, on the far right Obama is the mutant spawn of Satan and Hugo Chavez, but that's a take largely limited to the GOP echo chamber. Polling shows that most Americans think Obama is okay, even if he's misguided.) So personal attacks on Obama are chancy. On the other hand, the GOP base is not real excited about Romney. So what to do? Argue policy and watch the base go to sleep? Or fire up the Obama-as-Antichrist crowd and risk alienating indy voters, who decide the elections?

Not an easy path to walk.

[Major Robert Dump]

HAHA

Pantywaist

http://news.yahoo.com/star-pro-obama...182157898.html

[drone]

Since someone brought up Rush:

http://www.mediaite.com/online/rush-...is-named-bane/

Do you know the name of the villain in this movie? Bane. The villain in The Dark Knight Rises is named Bane, B-a-n-e. What is the name of the venture capital firm that Romney ran and around which there’s now this make-believe controversy? Bain. The movie has been in the works for a long time. The release date’s been known, summer 2012 for a long time. Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious fire breathing four eyed whatever it is villain in this movie is named Bain?
…
You may think it’s ridiculous, I’m just telling you this is the kind of stuff the Obama team is lining up. The kind of people who would draw this comparison are the kind of people that they are campaigning to. These are the kind of people that they are attempting to appeal to.

Rush is entering Beck territory here. Sure the villian is "Bane", but isn't the hero a rich white guy? Maybe Nolan's movie symbolizes the struggle for Mitt's soul.

[Major Robert Dump]

I believe the character Bane was invented in the 70s.

I saw the headline where the "Obama Administration" was allegedly trying to make a tie to Bane and Bain. Then I read the article. It was a Dem analyst. A blogger. Some random talking head. And of course the right wingers pick it up and start running with it.

This is why America is so sad.

[Kralizec]

I recall that when LOTR: the Two Towers went to cinemas, some morons in America objected because it reminded them too much of the twin towers and insisted that the title was inconsiderate and offensive. I don't think the USA has more morons relative to the population than any other country; they just manage to get disproportionately much media attention for some reason.

He can't be that stupid. Is there any chance he's joking?

Well, "stupid" could mean (willfully) ignorant, delusional or just plain lacking in intelligence. In this case I imagine that Limbaugh is simply not aware that Bane was a pre-existing character (I didn't know of it, either) and did not bother to check his facts before putting his spin on the whole story. A couple of months ago he accused Obama of fighting against christianity because he supported Uganda in their struggle against the Lord's Resistance Army, so this story doesn't impress me much.

[Major Robert Dump]

I forgot about that LRA thing.

And yet still he is top rated.

[drone]

He can't be that stupid. Is there any chance he's joking?

I seriously doubt that he believes it himself. He's not stupid, he knows what to say to get paid.

Ever since I have worked grown-up jobs, at every place of employment there have been people who go out to their cars and listen to Rush during their lunch hour. I've been waiting for someone to hack Clear Channel and replace his broadcast with a running loop of Bill Hicks' Rush Limbaugh bit, but I guess no one has a sense of humor these days.