The GOP Lie Machine Is On Auto-Pilot
Don't ask Romney about his empty, hollow laughter or why he is not concerned with the poor. Don't approach him with any questions that have not been run by his staff and above all, do not expect him to tell the truth, because he won't. He can't. It is not in his make-up to tell the truth. Never having had to accept consequences for bullying and assault of a high school classmate and never being apprehended for impersonating a cop while attending Stanford reinforced Romney's view that he is immune.
If Mitt Romney wins the Presidential election in November, it will be because he is an accomplished liar and the Republican party applauds every lie he tells. If Romney says it, the GOP swears it's true, even when it's not. There is not one day that goes by, that Romney and the GOP lie machine is not in full deception mode. Even when confronted with truth or fact, Romney and his surrogates do not hesitate to push ahead with their dishonest appraisal of issues. They lie with impunity because they have trained long and hard and more significantly, because every member of the media to whom Romney has granted an interview is aware that if you question Romney's version of the truth, it will be the last interview you will be granted. No one in the media has had the guts to face down Romney and his GOP lie machine. The members of the media who have suggested that he is less than honest will never score an interview.
The biggest lies?
•President Obama has been on a spending spree
•President Obama has raised taxes
•President Obama engages in a policy of appeasement and consistently apologizes for America.
Has President Obama been on a spending spree?
The answer is NO!
According to the Office of Management and Budget and the CBO, as well as in an article in the Wall Sreet Journal, President Obama has been the furthest away from a spending spree than any other President in years, yet Romney and his surrogates insist on perpetrating the myth that the President is spending so much that, according to Romney, President Obama has created a "debt and spending inferno". Maybe, just maybe, this is the worst lie that Romney, and his campaign, with an assist from the folks at Fox and Karl Rove, Bush's brain, have foisted on the American people. A lie is a lie, folks!
The problem with a lie is that once told and repeated over and over, it is believed, especially by those who are either weak-minded or for some other reason, just want to believe untruths.
Has President Obama raised taxes on the American people? Romney calls Obama a tax and spend liberal every chance he gets.
The answer is NO!
President Obama has not raised taxes. We have the same tax rates now that we had when Bush implemented the 'Bush tax cuts' while he was in office. In fact, one of the first things that Obama did when he took office was further cut the taxes of 95% of the working families in the United States. He has also signed 18 tax-cuts for small businesses.
Has President Obama engaged in a policy of appeasement? Romney insists that he has.
The answer is NO!
In Obama's words, "Ask Bin Laden". As for traveling the world and apologizing for the United States, four-star General Colin Powell made it quite clear to Fox that the accusation is simply untrue. Powell has been to my knowledge, the only Republican to tell the truth. He has also wondered why Romney does not think before he makes idiotic remarks that demonstrate his ignorance of foreign policy, like the 'Russian Federation is the largest threat' facing the country.
If anything, Obama's foreign policy should make him the darling of the Republican party. It has certainly made him less popular with his own base. He has appeased no one. He has directed the most aggressive series of drone attacks ever conceived, neither asking permission or making apologies. He has continued to prosecute the war in Afghanistan that most think should have been over long ago.
Romney has surrounded himself with Bush's foreign policy team, but what's worse, he has said that he will adapt his foreign policy to the wishes of the military. Now that's a leader you can rely on.
Romney's Rules Of Engagement
Romney does not want to talk about much, except to say he was a job creator and businessman, and that he is rich. He has rules for what he will and will not discuss.
Certain topics are off-limits:
•His stint as governor of Massachusetts, where he was NOT a job creator. The state he governed ranked 47th out of 50 in job creation. Oh, that's right. Romney's health care plan for Massachusetts, which he has now distanced himself from was the model for the Affordable Care Act. Education suffered when Romney was governor. Besides all of the cuts he made to education, as governor, Romney tried to require parenting classes for any parents that wanted their children to be enrolled in a full-day kindergarten program. Remember, while governor, he never "inhaled".
•His religion. That is fine, unless he or his surrogates start to make assertions about Obama's religious beliefs.
•His family. Fine, also. They are not running for office.
•Bain Capital. That is where Romney was supposedly a job creator and where his experience in the private sector prepared him to be President. Herein is the lie: The goal of Romney's job at Bain was not to create jobs, it was to make money for himself and his investors through a series of leveraged buyouts. In over one-fifth of the deals that Romney managed, the companies went bankrupt and the employees lost everything, including their jobs and pensions. Those are the deals, by the way, through which Romney made most of his quarter of a billion in wealth. With the money he plundered from those businesses, he made a ton of money for himself and a hefty return for his investors. But any criticism of his tenure at Bain is met with the suggestion that the criticism is an attack on free enterprise and capitalism.
Memo to Mitt: My uncle Buddy was a great believer in free enterprise, too. He also hated regulations. Uncle Buddy was a bookie for the mob, and like you, he created a few jobs and made a small fortune. That experience doesn't qualify him to be President, but then again, maybe it actually does. He was a businessman, after all...
•Recently, Mitt heaped praise on our last vice-president and commented that he wants to choose a vice-president just like Dick Cheney. As Rachel Maddow so succinctly pointed out, when Cheney left office, he was "less popular than herpes". So, not only is Mitt dishonest, his admiration for Cheney raises some pretty serious questions as to his beliefs about government, but more than likely, those questions will be off-limits.
•This list is still being revised.
What Will Romney Allow Us To Ask About?
Mitt Romney, clearly, does not enjoy being pressed. Many have said that he is just not accustomed to being challenged. He wasn't challenged as a CEO, he wasn't challenged as a Mormon bishop, and if President, he will not be challenged by the people. The man just can't and won't stand for it. He makes his own rules and feels that he does not have to explain his reasoning. He will never say or advocate for anything he believes is less than politically expedient. So then, what will Romney talk about?
•President Obama
•Trees that are the right height
•That he saved the auto industry
•He is Mr. Fix It, but won't elaborate on the fixes
•Corporations are people
•He likes firing people
•Seamus, his dog, loved being on the roof of the family car
•He likes grits
•Free market and industry require no regulation
•He has been a successful business man and offshoring is a good thing.
•Unions are bad, teachers are the enemy of prosperity, cops are the enemy of prosperity and firemen are the enemy of prosperity.
•Planned Parenthood must go.
•Anyone rich is a job creator and their taxes must be lowered.
Don't ask him about his empty, hollow laughter or why he is not concerned with the poor. Don't approach him with any questions that have not been run by his staff and above all, do not expect him to tell the truth, because he won't. He can't. It is not in his make-up to tell the truth.