Dogs Against Romney

It was inevitable.

Previously... Romney: Dog Torturer

Outing Fred Thompson??

Andrew Sullivan says "[Thompson] has had a colorful and wide-ranging sex life, as I'm sure we will soon find out."

Wonkette responds:

Translated: COUGH COUGH GAY COUGH COUGH FRED THOMPSON IS GAY GAY GAY COUGH COUGH

Sullivan is not even close to the first person we’ve heard float this particular rumor, not that that says anything as to its truth. Because we’ve also heard ... that Fred Thompson has an enormous dick, which is how he manages to get all of the hundreds upon hundreds of hot ladies he sleeps with.

Hat Tip: JoeMyGod

Romney: Dog Torturer

Mitt Romney is a fucking animal. And by that, please understand that I mean no disrespect to actual animals, which are quite obviously far, far superior to this piece of shit.

The reporter intended the anecdote that opened part four of the Boston Globe's profile of Mitt Romney to illustrate, as the story said, "emotion-free crisis management": Father deals with minor — but gross — incident during a 1983 family vacation, and saves the day. But the details of the event are more than unseemly — they may, in fact, be illegal.

The incident: dog excrement found on the roof and windows of the Romney station wagon. How it got there: Romney strapped a dog carrier — with the family dog Seamus, an Irish Setter, in it — to the roof of the family station wagon for a twelve hour drive from Boston to Ontario, which the family apparently completed, despite Seamus's rather visceral protest.

Of course, the statute of limitations has long since expired, but there's no doubt he's guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Do we really want someone who would torture his dog in the Oval Office? I think not. (You know what they say about serial killers--They all started out by abusing animals.)

The irony is that Romney's people apparently offered this up as evidence of their guy's skill as a problem solver. It'll be interesting to see how the Repundits try to spin that "emotion free crisis management" bullshit tonight. The "emotion free" part seems to be true, anyway.

A friend of mine at ExIsle (Zwolf) had this to say:

Most people, faced with dog feces on their automobile, would run shrieking about, waving their arms, clueless about what to do. Buy a new car? Fly around the world backwards at high speed to turn back time so the poo-poo never happened? Set fire to the station wagon and start hitchhiking? Pray for an interventionist god? Most people would be helpless in the face of such adversity!

But not Mitt Romney! He quickly deduced that ordinary hose-water is the solution here, and he rolled up his sleeves, and he spritzed off the car, chop-chop! That's the kind of decisive action we need in the White House.

Mitt Romney also opens his umbrella when it starts raining.

And you oughtta see 'im pour piss out of a boot!

Mitt in '08!

BTW, if this story angers you, tell 'em so. This is the central number for Romney for President: (857) 288-6400

Who Will Bloomberg Appeal To?

A lot of people seem to be jumping to the conclusion that a Bloomberg run would doom the Dems, and benefit the GOP, in 08, but I question that logic, especially because they all seem to be basing it on what happened with Nader in 2000.

In my view, Nader's appeal had as much to do with the when as it did with the what. His progressive positions appealed to the Democratic base precisely because they were sick to death of being marginalized during 8 years of a centrist-skewing, third-way policies of the Clinton-Gore administration.

Which is not exactly the case now. In fact, many Nader voters came to *regret* their votes once they witnessed first hand the consequences of letting George W. Bush get sworn in.

Now, after our years in the wilderness, the Dems are united, largely satisfied with the slate of potential nominees, and not afraid of a little compromise if it means winning.

So a third-party challenge will not, in my view, be particularly appealing to Dems this cycle; at least, not as appealing as it was after 8 years of Clinton/Gore... even if the challenger is progressive on social issues. (He's quite conservative on other issues, however: fiscal, crime, business... Nader, of course, was unbelievably to the left on all those issues as well.)

On the other hand, the Republican party is now in precisely the same position the Dems were in back in 2000: pissed off because they feel like they've gotten NOTHING they expected to get (and, frankly, were promised) after 8 years of Bush/Cheney. Hell, only 28% of them still support their own president, so it's fair to say that more than two-thirds of Republicans feel like their party has screwed them with their pants on. (Only 'cause it has. Unfortunately, it screwed the rest of us, too.)

Moreover, rank and file Republcians aren't particularly beholden to any one of the their prospective nominees -- even McCain, who for years had been assumed to be the presumptive nominee for 08, has crashed and burned. Most have written him off.

Giuliani is in the process of doing likewise. As the national Republicans get to know him the way we do, they like him less and less -- what a surprise. And they don't even know him that well yet -- Imagine the effect of replaying Donna Hanover's impromptu sidewalk press conference, after she learned by watching TV that her husband planned to divorce her in favor of one of his mistresses.

Rudy's a non-starter.

The field is so weak on their side that retired politicians weighing vanity runs--yep, Fred Tompson, I'm lookin' at you--are being hailed as the great white hope.

To me, it seems like it's not the Dems who are ripe for poaching by a third-party ticket. It's the GOP.

This will be especially true if, as has been widely speculated, Senator Hagel -- a *true* conservative Republican -- ditches his party to join Bloomberg.

In any case, 2008 just got a helluva lot more interesting.

Bloomberg Ditches GOP

Run, Mike, run!

GOP Debate

Three of the 10 Republican presidential candidates debating at the Regan Library last night indicated they do not believe in evolution.

It's hard to tell from the video which three raised their hands, but they have since been identified as Brownback, Trancredo and Huckabee. McCain (who seems more and more unhinged to me) hesitated before saying "yes," he does believe in evolution.

Tommy Thompson said he thinks it's just dandy if an employer wants to purge gays from his payroll.

Brownback said the day Roe v Wade gets overturned will be a "glorious day."

"The Iranians looked into Regan's eyes, and two minutes later, released the hostages," pandered Giluiani, who doesn't so much smile as bare his teeth. Like a Rottweiler.

McCain promised that he would pursue bin Laden "to the gates of hell." Um... I think we can get bin Laden without plunging the United States into the infernal Lake of Fire. So, y'know, thanks, Ahab, but I think we'll have to pass on that, and you.

All in all, quite the warm and fuzzy bunch of old white guys, huh?

McCain Calls Iraq War a Tragedy?

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Republican presidential contender John McCain called the Iraq war "a great tragedy" on Thursday, yet still decried a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal as the Senate voted to begin pulling out troops by Oct. 1.

Really? Let's check out that quote:

"I'm aware of the patience of the American people. I read the polls. I'm not embarrassed to say that. I understand the frustration and sorrow that American people feel about this war. It's a great tragedy," said McCain, who was campaigning in this early voting state and missed the Senate vote on the bill containing the withdrawal timetable.

I know what it looks like to me. It looks like he's calling "the patience of the American people" with regard to the Iraq war "a tragedy." Not the war itself.

Did the way they quoted him change the context? Maybe. But note that he also missed the vote. I'll be interested to see him expand on this, because if he's calling this war "a great tragedy," it's a major change of position--aka, a flip flop.

What do you guys think?

Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran

Another man — wondering if an attack on Iran is in the works — wanted to know when America is going to “send an air mail message to Tehran.”
McCain began his answer by changing the words to a popular Beach Boys song.
“Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran,” he sang to the tune of Barbara Ann.

I'd rather think McCain has lost his marbles than that he's lost his scruples, 'cause this could track either way.

All this pandering to people he spit at in 2000... Falwell, in particular.

Something's not right... and, again, I'd rather think he's been felled by dementia than by the desire to get to the Oval Office no matter what.

As much as I have always disagreed with his positions on most issues, I used to think he was better than that.