Looking back, not FORWARD

By now you’ve surely heard about, if not watched, Clint Eastwood’s tragic self-embarrassment at the Republican National Convention last night. It was painful to watch. “Cringe-inducing” comes to mind. As does somewhat guilty LOLing.

The best response we saw came from Rachel Maddow. When MSNBC cut back to her after Eastwood’s “performance”, she was uncharacteristically speechless, stammering and clearly not processing what she had just seen. Much like the rest of us.

After I DID process it, which took a good night’s sleep, I realized what a perfect metaphor this was for the Republican Party and for the Romney/Ryan ticket.

Video and commentary after the jump.

Can’t buy me looo-ooove…

Republicans have had their asses handed to them by the Obama campaign in terms of social media since 2007. We know it. They know it. Everyone knows it.

But Mitt Romney knows how to fix things like that. With money. He buys popularity. Tonight, the night of Romney’s nomination acceptance speech, one of the trending topics is #RomneyRyan2012.

He built bought that.

Click through for details.

Mitt Romney: Shameless and shameful

Rolling Stone has a blockbuster piece online that will appear in the September 13 issue. In it, journalist Tim Dickinson reveals that, while at the helm of Bain Capital, Mitt Romney (a) nearly managed the firm into bankruptcy, (b) received a massive government bailout and then, (c) swindled taxpayers out of at least $10 million after basically blackmailing the FDIC.

It’s a piece of journalistic excellence that is likely to break this campaign wide open. The whole scandalous story after the jump.

Welcome aboard, media friends

Yesterday, Greg Sargent at The Plum Line wrote a terrific piece titled “Call out the lies right in your headlines”. He, as well as others, are ratcheting up the call for our main media sources to start calling what Mitt Romney and his campaign are doing: blatantly lying. Making things up and then repeating them over and over again despite being debunked and fact-checked as false Pinocchios with their pants on fire.

It’s starting to work. Proof — lots and lots and lots of proof — after the jump.

Ryan and Romney prove the only thing Republicans have learned since Bush is how to lie better Howard Kurtz is the one “media critic” in America with a TV show. And, better than anyone, his take on Paul Ryan’s speech last night typifies the media’s reaction what has become standard practice from the right wing. He called Ryan’s speech a […]

Tuna fish! Tuna fish, I tellzya!

It was fun listening to Ann Romney talk about her husband last night. Anytime you have to be “humanized” (go ahead: Google it), you know you’re in deep doo. Ann talked about them eating macaroni and tuna fish. How their desk was made out of a door on saw horses. It was all so very “poor” sounding.

Then came today. The very next day after Ann Romney tried to convince us that Mitt Romney really isn’t a super-wealthy multi-millionaire, he had himself a little donor meet-and-greet on board a yacht registered in — you guessed it — the Cayman Islands.

I’m not kidding, I swear.

There’s more after the jump.

You SURE you want that message?

Last night at the Republican Convention in Tampa, multiple speakers got up to tell us how much America sucks right now. Despite an economy that is recovering, they stood under a giant debt clock and declared “We built this”. It’s an odd message, given how responsible Republicans are FOR that national debt.

Yeah, you built that. Proof and much more commentary after the jump.

Heh, heh…

The latest video from the Obama campaign pokes fun at what they call “Romney Economics”. Seems like they are enjoying the Republican National Convention as much at the Ron Paul supporters are not…

Watch it after the jump.

If everyone in the US voted…

Anne has started a new meme called “If everyone in the US voted…”

Combined with her eye-catching photos, it’s designed to show how things could be different if only everyone voted. Share around on Facebook, pin it on Pinterest. Join in on the fun!

(And make sure everyone you know is registered to vote! Great site for that here: GottaRegister.com.)

Here’s the latest edition:

Larger image after the jump.

Wait. You thought they’d let you vote?

Since the turn of the century, Republicans in power have recognized two things: hardcore religious and socially super-conservative white people could be a major voting bloc for them and they could NEVER let these people have any power of their own. So, each election cycle, they would trot out the “guns, God, and gays” fear machine to stoke up fear and anger and resentment and then channel that into heavy turnout at the polls for their candidate. This is, largely, how George W. Bush got elected. The issues of abortion, gun control, affirmative action, and gay marriage were useful tools for making this group of people useful tools.

Over time, that demographic has shifted into what’s now called the tea party and their patron saint is Ron Paul. More organized than before, this group is even more powerful (as we saw from the 2010 election) and the Republican Party machine knows this. That’s why they have gone to extraordinary lengths to strip Paul supporters of any significant role at the RNC Convention this week and have sent his remaining delegates to the nosebleed seats in the convention center.

Much more after the jump.

Via the incomparable Eclectateam of LOLGOP and Anne C. Savage:

Larger version suitable for sharing and pinning after the jump.