See? Do something often enough you get really good at it!
It was a lie told in the critical state of Ohio in the final days of a close campaign — that Jeep was moving its U.S. production to China. It originated with a conservative blogger, who twisted an accurate news story into a falsehood. Then it picked up steam when the Drudge Report ran with it. Even though Jeep’s parent company gave a quick and clear denial, Mitt Romney repeated it and his campaign turned it into a TV ad.
And they stood by the claim, even as the media and the public expressed collective outrage against something so obviously false.
People often say that politicians don’t pay a price for deception, but this time was different: A flood of negative press coverage rained down on the Romney campaign, and he failed to turn the tide in Ohio, the most important state in the presidential election.
PolitiFact has selected Romney’s claim that Barack Obama “sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China” at the cost of American jobs as the 2012 Lie of the Year.
Remember when the GOP went ballistic after this “hot mic” Obama moment?
Here are a few reactions that blew in from the right:
Tammy Bruce: Obama’s comments to Russia’s Medvedev simply confirm what we already know about this bastard. And it’s not just on missile defense, but on every issue relevant to the quality of our lives.
John Boehner: “I and other members of the House have previously expressed concern about your administration’s apparent willingness to make unilateral concessions to Russia that undermine our missile defense capabilities… Your comments reinforce those words… That has significant implications for the security of our homeland, sends a terrible signal to our allies around the world and calls into question the effectiveness of your `reset’ policy with the Russian government.”
John McCain: The president was “playing fast and loose with national security.”
But while in Moscow, Mr. Romney told a Russian known to be able to deliver messages to Mr. Putin that despite the campaign rhetoric, his father wants good relations if he becomes president, according to a person informed about the conversation.
Shorter version: Number one geopolitical foe? You? My dad said that? MY dad? Kidding!
I’m waiting for the GOP to accuse Matt of “playing fast and loose with national security.” I’m not holding my breath.
Here’s what Romneyette accomplished: He managed to signal to the Russian government that his dad is a flip-flopping liar who doesn’t mean what he says about them to the American people, but trust him, he’ll be President Congeniality once in office, and all those provocative things he said were just silly campaign talk. Don’t believe anything he said then, only what he says now, or in a minute, or in an hour, or a day, or in January… or… um…
“Of COURSE” Willard’s cooler and savvier than he looks on the Tee Vee Machine.
Here’s why Matt felt the need to clean up Daddy Dearest’s mess:
Romney harrumphed his indignation about how President Obama should be “willing to tell the American people before the election” just what his policies would be. Gee, that’s not the least bit hypocritical.
Italians reacted ferociously after local news agencies reported that Romney used the country as a negative example for what America’s economy could become if it continues on its current trajectory.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Roanoke, Virginia, Romney reportedly asked the audience:
If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re thinking of starting up a business, you need to ask yourself: Is America on the same road as Greece? Are we on the path to an economic crisis like that we’re seeing in Europe, in Italy and Spain?
[...]
Osvaldo Napoli, deputy for the center-right party, accused the Republican candidate of lacking experience in governing. “Romney has no appropriate knowledge of the situation in Europe. Any comparison between the American situation and ours is a primary error from someone who never ruled before,”he reportedly said.
The L.A. Times is reporting that seven Europe nations don’t look kindly on Mitt, but President Obama is still very popular:
A survey of seven European nations, including longtime U.S. allies Britain and France, has found that Obama would win more than 90% of the vote if the respondents could cast ballots in Tuesday’s race. The survey was conducted by YouGov, a respected British-based polling organization that has also tracked Obama’s and Romney’s numbers within the U.S. [...]
The poll, which covered Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, found that Romney failed to garner more than 10% support in any of those countries.In Sweden and Denmark, the former Massachusetts governor fared even worse: Only 1 in 20 people named him as their choice.[...]
In fact, many in Europe are often puzzled as to why the race between Obama and Romney is so tight.
Romney “has yet to make much of an impression on Europeans,” [Joe Twyman, YouGov’s director of political and social research] said… “Every modern president must also show that they can be an effective operator in the international arena… That includes being seen favorably by people in other countries.”
ROME (AP) — A chorus of Handel’s “Alleluia” rang out Saturday as Silvio Berlusconi resigned as Italian premier, ending a tumultuous 17-year political era and setting in motion a transition aimed at bringing the country back from the brink of economic crisis.
Berlusconi stepped down amid jeers, cheers and heckles of “Buffoon” from thousands of people who packed downtown Rome to witness his government’s downfall after a stunning week of market turmoil that upended his defiant hold on power and threatened to tear apart the eurozone.
Respected former European commissioner Mario Monti remained the top choice to try to steer the country out of its debt woes as the head of a transitional government. But the job is Herculean, given the enormity of reforms required and Italy’s often-paralyzed parliament.
In an interview with the Guardian, Gore said the Current TV news and documentary channel was told unexpectedly three weeks ago that it could no longer be carried by Sky Italia because of its decision to hire a US left-leaning commentator often critical of Murdoch’s company.
He added that the decision reflected how News Corporation operated worldwide. “News Corporation is an international conglomerate with an ideological agenda. It seeks political power in every nation they operate. They wield that power to shut down voices that disagree with the agenda of Rupert Murdoch,” Gore said.
The decision, he added, was “a complete shock” but Current TV executives were told “off the record that the decision was taken on News Corp instructions from New York”. The primary reason, he said, was “because Current is launching Keith Olbermann next month”.
ROME — US Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was hospitalised on Monday after feeling unwell during a visit to Rome, Italian news agencies said.
Pelosi, in Italy to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Italian nation, was scheduled to meet with Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa and Gianfranco Fini, head of the lower house of parliament, when she felt “slightly unwell.”
The Italian-American democrat was forced to cancel her meeting with La Russa and postpone the one with Fini. She is undergoing tests in Rome’s Umberto I hospital, the agencies said.
Thousands of dead turtle doves, many of which had a “strange” blue stain inside their beaks, have crashed from the sky in Italy. [...]
Initial testing of about 8,000 of the doves indicate the blue beak stain might be from lack of oxygen or poisoning. More conclusive test results may be available next week.
“This is a classic example of freak events coinciding,” Petter Boeckman, a zoologist at the Norwegian Natural History Museum, told Reuters. [...]
…2 million dead fish washed ashore along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay — and just days after up to 5,000 blackbirds fell out of the sky in a one-mile area near Beebe, Ark., and thousands of drum fish turned up dead along a stretch of an Arkansas river.
Other animal die-offs in the past two weeks include reports of 40,000 dead crabs washing ashore near Kent, England, hundreds of snapper fish dead in New Zealand, 150 tons of red tilapia dead in Vietnam, 500 jackdaws crashing to their death in Sweden, more than 450 birds falling onto a Louisiana highway and a mass of dead fish in a Florida creek.
I give up. Stumped. Stymied. Befuddled. Perplexed. Conundrum’d.
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