Mirror On America

Monday, February 13, 2012

Keeping Track of Willard's Lies

It's time for Willard's Lies of the week.

Once again, I will point out the site on the blog roll: Romney The Liar: because there are Liars, Damn Liars, and then there's Mitt Romney.

Steve Benen, now at The Maddow Blog:. Here's last week's entry of Chronicling Mitt's mendacity:

Chronicling Mitt's mendacity
By Steve Benen - Fri Feb 10, 2012 1:45 PM EST.

Several weeks ago, I launched a new Friday afternoon feature, highlighting the most blatant Mitt Romney falsehoods of the week. It moved to Maddow Blog last week, and here's this week's installment. (It does not include mendacity from Romney's CPAC speech this afternoon.)

1. Romney claimed, "We are the only people on the earth that put our hand over our heart during the playing of the national anthem. It was FDR who asked us to do that, in honor of the blood that was being shed by our sons and daughters in far-off places."

This is both untrue and rather strange.

2. Romney argued in a speech, "You know, like his colleagues in the faculty lounge, who think they know better, President Obama demonizes and denigrates almost every sector of our economy."

Asked to back that up, the Romney campaign pointed to President Obama's criticism of Wall Street recklessness, insurance company abuses, and oil companies. If those three represent "almost every sector of our economy," then Romney doesn't understand the private sector as well as he thinks he does.

3. Romney claimed, "Just this last week, this same administration said that in churches and the institutions they run, such as schools and let's say adoption agencies, hospitals, that they have to provide for their employees, free of charge, contraceptives, morning-after pills -- in other words abortive pills and the like at no cost."

That's not even close to being an accurate description of the policy.

4. Romney argued, "More Americans have lost their jobs during President Obama's term than during any other President in modern history."

That only makes sense if Romney holds the job losses from early 2009 -- before Obama could even begin governing in earnest -- against him. If you blame the president for job losses that occurred 11 days after his inauguration, then Romney's claim is sort of true. If you're willing to be fair, then Romney's being deliberately misleading.

5. Romney once again insisted this week, "This is a president who began his presidency by apologizing for America."

That's a lie. It never happened.

Whitney Houston Dead at the Age of 48

I am stunned. I mean, we all know about her demons, but I'm stunned.

She was THE VOICE. People throw around 'gift from God', but, let's be honest, Whitney Houston's voice was a 'gift'. SO many female 'singers' these days are mere poseurs, but Whitney was the real thing. RIP, Whitney.

Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer – 2 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.

Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.

News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night — the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to case a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.

At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."

"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," ''You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.

The GOP's War on Reproductive Rights

This entire bogus brouhaha about the White House and Contraception is a scam.

A S-C-A-M

By the right –wing, who has absolutely nothing. They see that the economy is improving. They see that the country, despite all their attempts at sabotaging this country, is finally moving in the right direction. They have a President who has taken foreign policy away from them as an issue. They have, as their ‘inevitable’ nominee, a clown who has taken both sides on every issue known to man. They have a ‘ base’ that despises their so-called ‘inevitable’ nominee, and express it at every turn. It is the ‘base’ that turns out, and in nominating Willard Romney, they are afraid that he will not ‘excite’ them. So, in order to ‘excite’ the base, they create this phony ‘ war on religion’ supposedly by the President.

The President’s ruling, with regards to birth control is quite simple: if you are an employer with so many employees, you must provide, as part of an overall women’s basic health package, free birth control. That’s it. It doesn’t go after religious institutions. The church can be against birth control all it wants; the federal government is not saying that it can’t. What the government IS saying is…

IF you are a religious entity, and you get into the employment business, guess what? You have to treat your employees the same as any other employer without religious affiliation.

That’s it.

IF the church doesn’t want to pay for birth control, then guess what, the church needs to get out of the business of being an employer. Nobody is forcing the church to be an employer. To provide insurance. Nobody. So, get out of those businesses, and you won’t have to be’ subject’ to following the laws like everyone else.

As for this ‘ conscience’ nonsense that they try to bring up, I feel about it, the same way I feel whenever I read a story about a pharmacist, who has found religion, and refuses to fill a prescription – almost always BIRTH CONTROL-…

because it goes against their ‘conscience’. I don’t give a rat’s ass about your’ conscience’; if the prescription is for a LEGAL DRUG DISPENSED BY A PHARMACY

Do your job. Or, get another one.

Clint Eastwood Makes Obama's Day

From The National Journal:

Clint Eastwood Makes Obama's Day
By George E. Condon Jr.
February 5, 2012 | 10:04 PM

President Obama's ad-makers may have to pay royalties to Clint Eastwood after a remarkable two-minute Chrysler commercial that aired on the biggest of all stages - the Super Bowl - and gave a pretty good preview of what the president's reelection commercials might look like. At the very least, the ad and Eastwood's powerful narration make it much, much more difficult for Republican front-runner Mitt Romney to keep pushing his line that Washington should have let the automakers go into bankruptcy.

And don't think that Team Obama wasn't watching the Super Bowl along with millions of other Americans and immediately grasped the boost they could get from the commercial. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer quickly tweeted "Saving the America auto industry: something Eminem and Clint Eastwood can agree on." Senior strategist David Axelrod tweeted "Powerful spot. Did Clint shoot that, or just narrate it?" Former White House aide Bill Burton tweeted, "Clinton Eastwood #winning."

.....................................

With 30 second spots selling for $3.5 million, the commercial cost Chrysler an estimated $14 million and was kept under wraps by the automaker, which, with the help of the Obama administration, has come back from the dead after being counted out in 2009. And one can only guess what the automaker paid Eastwood. Whatever, it was worth it for it was a master stroke. The 81-year-old actor has told interviewers he has always voted Republican for president, though he has endorsed some Democrats in California and has praised libertarians.

The commercial itself was reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" commercials, though with the famous Clint Eastwood tough guy touch. Shown shortly after Madonna's halftime performance, it began with the silhouette of Eastwood, walking in the dark and recognizable only for his gravelly voice. "It's halftime. Both teams are in their locker room discussing what they can do to win this game," he says. "It's halftime in America, too." With scenes of an iconic front porch and a city skyline," he continues, "People are out of work and they are hurting. They are all wondering what they are going to do to make a comeback. And we're all scared because this isn't a game."

With more every day scenes flashing on the screen, Eastwood adds, "The people in Detroit know a little something about this. They almost lost everything. But we all pulled together. Now Motor City is fighting again." With the music punctuating his remarks, Eastwood goes on: "I've seen a lot of tough eras, a lot of downturns in my life. Times when we didn't understand each other. It seems that we've lost our heart at times. The fog of division, discord and blame, made it hard to see what lies ahead." As scenes of protesters give way to black and white photos of kids and firefighters, Eastwood builds, "But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right and acted as one. Because that's what we do. We find a way through tough times. If we can't find a way then we'll make one. All that matters now is what's ahead. How do we come from behind? How do we come together?

At this point, viewers see Eastwood in the light. "And how do we win? Detroit is showing us it can be done,. And what's true about them is true about all of us. This country can't be knocked out with one punch." To conclude, a close-up of Eastwood fills the screen. "We get right back up again and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, its halftime America and our second half is about to begin."

All that was missing was him turning to Mitt Romney and challenging him to "make my day."

Keeping Track of Willard's Lies- A New Weekly Post

I think we need to keep track of Willard's lies.

On that note, I will point out the site on the blog roll: Romney The Liar: because there are Liars, Damn Liars, and then there's Mitt Romney.

Steve Benen, now at The Maddow Blog, is continuing his Weekly Lies of Willard. Here's last week's entry:

Chronicling Mitt's mendacity
By Steve Benen
Fri Feb 3, 2012 2:07 PM EST

Several weeks ago, I launched a Friday afternoon feature, highlighting the most offensive Mitt Romney falsehoods of the week. I was off last week, but let's get it started again.

Associated Press

1. Romney claimed President Obama "went before the United Nations" and "said nothing about thousands of rockets being rained in on Israel from the Gaza Strip."

True or false? The claim isn't even close to being right.

2. Romney said Democrats "passed Dodd-Frank," which "has made it almost impossible for community banks."

True or false? He's has said this before, and it's still completely untrue.

3. Romney continues to insist, "Our Navy is now smaller than any time since 1917."

True or false? It's one of his favorite talking points, but it's wildly misleading.

4. Romney boasted, "I did not inherit what my wife and I have, nor did she. What I was able to build, I built the old-fashioned way, by earning it, by working hard."

True or false? In reality, he inherited quite a bit from his wealthy, powerful parents.

The Punk Out by the Susan G. Komen Foundation

In case you hadn't heard, the Susan G. Komen Foundation has pulled its' donations from Planned Parenthood. The reason given is because of the abortion services that Planned Parenthood provides. The grant that it gave Planned Parenthood.....well, did it pay for abortions?

NO.

What did it do?

Over the past five years, Planned Parenthood health centers with Komen program funding have provided nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams out of the more than four million clinical breast exams performed nationwide at Planned Parenthood health centers, as well as more than 6,400 mammogram referrals out of 70,000 mammogram referrals.

170,000 breast exams.
6,400 mammogram referrals.

Now, these medical services aren't given to women with insurance. This came up when the misogynists in the HOUSE VOTED TO CUT OFF PLANNED PARENTHOOD. Planned Parenthood provides good, quality healthcare concerning feminine health issues FOR WOMEN WITH NO WHERE ELSE TO GO.

That Komen would cut off money because of something its money doesn't even go towards?

You can do what you want to do, but I know where any mail coming from them will go from now on.

IN THE GARBAGE.

From The Atlantic Monthly Blog::

Komen, the marketing juggernaut that brought the world the ubiquitous pink ribbon campaign, says it cut-off Planned Parenthood because of a newly adopted foundation rule prohibiting it from funding any group that is under formal investigation by a government body. (Planned Parenthood is being investigated by Rep. Cliff Stearns, an anti-abortion Florida Republican, who says he is trying to learn if the group spent public money to provide abortions.)

But three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut-off Planned Parenthood. (Komen gives out grants to roughly 2,000 organizations, and the new "no-investigations" rule applies to only one so far.) The decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization's new senior vice-president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is "pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood." (The Komen grants to Planned Parenthood did not pay for abortion or contraception services, only cancer detection, according to all parties involved.) I've tried to reach Handel for comment, and will update this post if I speak with her.

The decision, made in December, caused an uproar inside Komen. Three sources told me that the organization's top public health official, Mollie Williams, resigned in protest immediately following the Komen board's decision to cut off Planned Parenthood. Williams, who served as the managing director of community health programs, was responsible for directing the distribution of $93 million in annual grants. Williams declined to comment when I reached her yesterday on whether she had resigned her position in protest, and she declined to speak about any other aspects of the controversy.

Lawrence O'Donnell had a representative on from Planned Parenthood to discuss.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A Letter from a former slave to his slave master

To My Old Master

In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, wrote to his former slave, Jourdan Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm. Jourdan — who, since being emancipated, had moved to Ohio, found paid work, and was now supporting his family — responded spectacularly by way of the letter seen below (a letter which, according to newspapers at the time, he dictated).

Rather than quote the numerous highlights in this letter, I'll simply leave you to enjoy it. Do make sure you read to the end.

(Source: The Freedmen's Book; Image: A group of escaped slaves in Virginia in 1862, courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

Dayton, Ohio,

August 7, 1865

To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

From your old servant,

Jourdon Anderson.

Willard says he doesn't care about poor people

Tell me something I didn't already know.

In an interview with Soledad O'Brien, Willard said the following:

I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich, they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90%, 95% of Americans right now who are struggling and I'll continue to take that message across the nation. [...]

"You can focus on the rich, that's not my focus. You can focus on the very poor, that's not my focus. My focus is on middle-income Americans."

Now, there are those who believe that this was Willard's attempt at a dogwhistle. That ' the very poor' was code for Black. Might be.

Here's what No More Mister Nice Blog said:

THAT WAS NO GAFFE. THAT WAS A BRAND-NEW TALKING POINT.
(Update: or maybe not so brand-new.)
See? He keeps repeating it. It's a rehearsed line. It's a talking point he wants to take into the campaign. He wants to divide and conquer; he wants middle-class people who've had the rug pulled out from under them in this recession to feel that their interests are in opposition to the interests of "the very poor." He wants them to think that President Obama is excessively concerned with "the very poor" at their expense.

Will this work? I don't know. But it's no slip-up. It's no gaffe.

Wouldn't put anything past him, but here's the thing that reporters should be asking. Bump the dogwhistle, just ask the following:

W-T-F is the' very poor'? What is the demarkation for ' the very poor'? What's the financial status demarkation line for the poor in this country versus the very poor?

Willard's only concerned with the 90-95% of Americans who are struggling?

W-T-F?

Another question that needs to be asked of him is WHAT PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS, based upon those artificially low government baselines, are considered POOR in America?

Here's the answer Willard - IT'S LARGER THAN 5%.

And about that social safety net that Willard claims he wants to protect?

I, and others call bullshyt on that one, considering that all the fiscal policies he says he wants to implement would SHRED THE SOCIAL SAFETY NET in this country.

Of all the segments about this, I enjoyed Tweety's the most, because he came closest to the repulsion that I feel for Willard.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy