Election 2012: Week Two in Review

by Sunnyjane

Admiral Romney, the USS Pinafore's Ruler of the Navy: "A partnership is the only ship that I ever have seen!"

Military Madness

Readers familiar with Gilbert and Sullivan's delightful Victorian-era operetta HMS Pinafore will easily recognize and understand the correlation between that comedy's Sir Joseph Porter character and Mitt Romney.  Sir Joseph went on to say: 

      I grew so rich that I was sent 
     By a pocket borough into Parliament. 
     I always voted at my party's call 
     And I never thought of thinking for myself at all.  
     I thought so little, they rewarded me, 
    By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navy.  

The jab here, of course, is that too often people who are extremely unqualified are elevated to positions of power simply because they are wealthy and are willing to kiss the, uh, rings of their puppeteers.

Pinafore also pokes fun at the British class system of the period, to which we can all relate during this election cycle, when Sir Joseph states, A British sailor is any man's equal -- except mine!

Mitt Romney desperately wants the title of Chief in Command.  But during the final presidential debate on October 22, President Obama  proved conclusively that the Republican candidate's foreign -- and domestic -- policy expertise is limited to sending jobs to China, putting his money in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, and lying to get votes.  These things make him frighteningly incompetent to assume the position of Commander in Chief of the United States of America.

The Professor Puts the Dunce in the Corner
 

Um... Subs?  Aircraft carriers?
 Can I respond retroactively?

After about thirty minutes, the stench of Roasting Romney permeated the air in Boca Raton, FL.  Trotting out his well worn apocalypse-now whine that the United States has fewer naval vessels than it did in 1916, the President took the opportunity to do a little schooling: Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines.  Obviously, Mitt  Romney's definition of naval supremacy means that the finest citrus fruit comes from Florida.  Yes, he's just that daft.

Romney also thought it a dandy idea to bring up the President's oft-debunked 2009 Apology Tour.  That was a mistake, a big mistake.   A little fact checking would have been helpful, but the Romney campaign does not care about facts or, as we know, the truth. But they thought their candidate could get away with this lie.  The President did, indeed, visit other countries -- Europe, the Mid-East, and Latin America -- after he assumed office.  It was not, however, to apologize for America, but rather to clean up the mess George W. Bush had made over the previous eight years, when our reputation went into the toilet.  Romney was especially gleeful to report that President Obama had skipped Israel.  The President did not hesitate to say he had been there as a candidate and I didn’t take donors. I didn’t attend fundraisers. I went to the Holocaust museum there, to remind myself of the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable.  The donors and fundraisers jab was, of course, in reference to Romney's embarrassing Geopolitical Magic Carpet Trip in July when he dragged along big-bucks Sheldon Adelson and scheduled a $50,000 fund-raising dinner on a sacred day of fasting in Israel. 

The President's Apology Tour -- which was actually a Mending Fences Tour -- seems to have been successful, since of the twenty-one countries listed here, only Pakistan would rather see Mitt Romney in the White House.

Map Maker, Map Maker, Make Me a Map

Iran: Big Green Blob, Two Big Waters.
Syria: Small Brown Blob, One Big Water.
Romney:  Big Gray Blob, No Clue.

Cartographers the world over are said to be popping antacid pills at an alarming rate, due to Mitt Romney's five-time claim that Syria is Iran's only route to the sea. 

Romney can spout all the correct words -- Syria, Assad, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Iran, Israel -- without having a clue what he's talking about. 

Now, admittedly, I am not the sharpest needle in the pin cushion, but I've looked at this map rather closely -- far more than it deserves -- and if Syria is Iran's only route to  the sea, then I'm a two-year old Pop-Tart.  Did the only  candidate for president that the Republican Party could come up with sleep through the 1980s' Iraq-Iran War and the 1990s' Persian Gulf War? 

A Village in Indiana Has Found Its Idiot

I disagree with what the fool said, 
but I fully support what the fool said.

On the same night Mitt Romney was demonstrating to more than fifty-six million American voters that he is unfit for the Office of the Presidency, the only Republican senate candidate he has endorsed in the 2012 General Election was telling the Hoosier State electorate that if a woman became pregnant as a consequence of rape, it was what God intended.  While Richard Mourdock made a small effort to, um, purify his statement, let's make one thing clear -- he meant exactly what he said: I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God.  And I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.

Make no mistake, this is Romney's kind of far-right-wing Christianista nut job.  Mourdock is right up there with Rick Santorum who believes that rape babies are gifts from God; Paul Ryan who believes that rape is just another form of conception; and Todd Akin who believes that with a legitimate rape, the woman has magical powers to shut down conception. If there is a Romney/Ryan administration, every rapist will be assured that his violently conceived child will have an advocate in the White House.  Yes, seriously.

Hurricane "Superstorm" Sandy

The mother of all hurricanes hit the East Coast of the United States during Week Two, and  President Obama cancelled his scheduled campaign stops to take control of the situation.  Mitt Romney was taking advantage of that situation by running around Ohio campaigning, but keeping the people in harms way in his prayers.  Uh huh.   Then Romney decided that he had to get in on the action and started urging people to donate disaster relief items for the victims.  Never mind that the Red Cross does not want donated items.  

On behalf of all Politicalgates readers and commenters, special thanks to Sleuth1 for her devoted and far-ranging coverage of the hurricane.  Excellent and extremely beneficial effort, Sleuth1! 

       

Let's imagine a Romney presidency during this crisis:

Aide:  Mr. President, there's a huge hurricane coming that's threatening the United States! 

President Romney:  Really?  OK, get FEMA on the phone and tell them to handle it. 

Aide: Um, Mr. President, you got rid of FEMA.  You sent responsibility for disaster relief to the states so you could shrink government and save money. 

President Romney:  I saved money?  Well, money is more important than people’s lives, right?  I’ll take a nap now; call me when it’s over.  Oh, and if any governors want to whine to me about their state's desperate situation, switch the phones to the Call Center in India.

Remember Michelle Obama's statement at the Democratic National Convention:  Being President doesn't change who you are.  It reveals who you are.
 

A natural or national disaster is one of the best arguments for early voting in every state, no restrictions and no justifications required.

END NOTE

Courtesy of Rolling Stone

 We have a real leader in the White House.  Let's keep him there.

Who supports American workers, and who supports Chinese workers?  Just askin'.

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Congratulation to Politicalgates' newest citizen, Linda, who voted in her first ever U.S. election -- for the Obama/Biden ticket!