Let me finish tonight with, again, the stakes this November.
You can vote your impulse in this election. You can say, "Well, the economy's not growing the way it should. Let's change presidents." Or you can look at the choices here and decide who is the best bet to lead the kind of country you believe in. That includes, but isn't limited to, the kind of economic growth you'd like to see this month or next.
That bigger choice is getting heftier by the minute.
You vote for Obama, you get a second start at what he's been trying to do: some smart use of government action to stimulate a fairer, safer America.
You vote for Romney and you get a slew of things:
You get him — the "him" he's created of himself the past few years. I'm still not all that sure what that means in personal terms. But if you take Romney, the candidate, at his word — he's a dedicated disciple of the right — tax breaks for the wealthy, no deals with Democrats on cutting the deficit, no abortion rights, no marriage equality, a war footing with Iran, militance toward China, a cold relationship with Russia... You get something like what the hard right has wanted for years and on every front.
You also get the whole cotillion: you get Bachmann and her loony notions of Muslim Brotherhood infiltration into Hillary's office, of Democratic "anti-American" types sifting through the Capitol cloakrooms. You get the equally lunar "birther" types, the folks Speaker Boehner wistfully calls the "knuckle-draggers." You get the people who hate science, like this character Akin with his quack theories about rape and impregnation. You get the real hawks like John Bolton, just waiting for another empty suit to fill with the latest war they've got on their agenda. With the Bushes they had one for the first, two for the second. Dubya was much emptier as suits go: all hat and no...well, you fill in the blank.
The point is, getting Romney, the dedicated rightwing man-for-hire, is one thing. But we're reminded again tonight with this character from Missouri and his "legitimate rape" gospel that all is not right in nut country.
Just remember, if you vote for Romney, you not only get him, you get the march of the clowns that didn't end with Santorum and Gingrich. It marches on, taking only short breaks after killing the debt deal, downgrading the country's bond rating, a quick skinny dip in the Galilee, to their next snappy march to armageddon.
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A fairer, safer America. What the what is it? Fair America that is even more fair with higher taxes, so safe that need next Patriot Act to be even more safe? Really? Maybe Chris just don't know what to say about Obama's second term and boo-boo-boo something sounds like encouragement to F student from liberal teacher.
Chris wants to accuse Romney to be connected via GOP with Dems propaganda boogie men and women. Normal trick of any totalitarian regime - proclaim people with questions to be psychotic to avoid deal with issues. It will not works with Romney obviously - he looks and speaks esthetically much more like liberal than Obama who stylistically is closer to prominent members of Bush administration...
This is long story... To make it short Chris as Catholic would hate science if could understand what science means. Dems like science as consumers demanding that science would serve political and corruption needs. It is not a Science it is intellectual service for money what they like to present like love.
Ha Ha Ha! As usual leo you are disconnected from reality.
Isn't that what you're doing? The Republican's in Congress have in fact voted to repeal the ACA 33 times in the last two years as well as voting for numerous anti-abortion, anti-birth control, anti in-vitro, and "personhood," pieces of legislation.
They have also pursued numerous anti-LGBT bills coupled with the DADT court case.
However, they ran for their seats solely by saying they would get us more jobs. Yet they have voted against every single piece of jobs legislation proposed and proposed none of their own. They also refused to vote for a clean debt ceiling bill and refused to pass a budget until our credit was downgraded even though they were warned it would happen and ignored the pleas of American citizens, American corporations, world economists and every right wing publication to just pass the budget to prevent the downgrade.
Your characterizations of Obama are absurd and derisory and you are trying to blame him for the poor performance and behavior of the Republicans in the House. Chris is right, you as usual are wrong.
The Republican party, as it exists today, has been hijacked by Plutocrats (someone who exercises power by virtue of wealth). They are focused on the accumulation of profits by businesses and wealth by the very rich. In their view, taxes and regulations are expenses or restrictions that reduce those profits and wealth. The goal of the Republican party is to gain control of our government with the sole purpose of eliminating, or at least reducing to the absolute minimum, taxes and regulations. This focused pursuit of wealth is completely amoral, in that they have absolutely no consideration for any possible negative effects of their actions in attaining these goals. This total lack of concern is reinforced by the protection against possible negative effects that wealth provides. With that focus in mind, here is an analysis of the Republican party stand on controversial issues:
1. Reduction of Taxes:
(a) every dollar that is eliminated from taxes represents additional income and retention of wealth by businesses and individuals.
2. Reduction of Government Spending:
(a) Every dollar that is eliminated from government spending is offset by a reduction in taxes. In addition:
i. The elimination of Government regulatory agencies eliminates regulations.
A. Also related, increases in the minimum wage increase expenses for businesses.
ii. Shifting a portion of Social Security to private investment reduces expenditures and provides additional revenue for the investment industries.
iii. Shifting of Medicare to private insurance reduces expenditures and provides additional revenue for the health insurance industry while also eliminating cost reduction pressures on the health care industry.
iv. Elimination of the Affordable Healthcare Act also provides additional revenue for the health care industry while eliminating cost reduction pressures.
3. Increase in Military Spending:
(a) Although this increases government spending, that is more than offset by greater benefits:
i. Beyond personnel expenses, every increase in military spending provides additional revenue to military and aerospace industries.
ii. Increases in military spending are falsely equated to increased national security which gains votes.
4. Moral issues:
(a) The issues of abortion, contraception, stem cell research, and gay rights represent pandering to the religious organizations in order to gain votes and allow the Republican party to attain their goals through government control.
5. Gun Control:
(a) This is a major, wedge/divisive issue which has the potential to over-shadow many other issues. The Republican party is taking advantage of the Democratic party’s virulent support of gun control legislation and opposition to 2nd Amendment rights legislation, and as a result, gain additional votes. In addition:
i. Decreased regulation of guns and ammunition has the potential to provide increased revenue for the gun industries, and
ii. Decreased gun regulations provides a basis to propose ATF reductions.
6. Voter Fraud:
(a) The “elimination of voter fraud”, by the Republican party, is actually focused on voter suppression of those demographic segments of the voting population that statistically favor the Democratic party. This increases the potential for a Republican win in the next election, which would allow the Republican party to establish their goals through government regulations and laws, which will remain even if those voter regulations are over-turned in the future.
Not sure how it happened but, It seems all the crazy's climbed out of their holes and went to the right to the republican party...
So Chris. Does this mean that a vote for Obama is a vote for Reverend Wright ("Goddamn America") and Bill Ayers? Isn't it just as fair to lump your incompetent socialist hero in the same basket as these anti-american jerks.
No Mike it does not.... and until you are a member of a minority group and looking for a way out and into society or to change what you see as inequality for all, I don't think it equates.
I was in college in the sixties and had many SDS friends. Unless you are in the military today, without our protests you would have your behind in Afghanistan. We did change the direction of unnecessary wars and said we would not attend the one in Vietnam. Maybe a socialist has more to do with how we shape society as has been written before, for the common good.
After Bush 43, incompetent? Really? Oh yeah, it would be wonderful to have spent the last four years with the 2008 clowns.
Carol. SDS and Weathermen were basiclly a pack of domestic terrorists and draft dodging cowards. They ducked out of the draft and plenty of those minorities you pretend to look out for got sent to Vietnam and got themselves killed in their place. Your protests accomplished nothing other than piss off those of us who spent our time in the military in those days. Matthews is nothing more than a bombastic, name calling hypocrite in this essay. The GOP, like the Democratic Party, has its share of morons, and Matthews' name-calling diatribes don't help to dampen the vicious discourse taking place now.
VietNam draft dodging cowards like Mitt Romney? The man who took four deferments to keep from serving in VietNam while marching in rallies in favor of the draft? Spending three and half years in France in a palace while others served?
Talk about an anti-American jerk! How many American jobs and factories has Mitt sent to other countries? This is the guy who wanted to let the American auto industry fail just because! No profit motive. No investment. Just because he hates Americans and American workers.
Everything you have said is hypocritical. It was Obama who got Bin Laden and dozens of other terrorists when Bush gave up. Mitt has done nothing but lie, criticize and evade regarding his religion his business his taxes, his career at Bain and even his record as Governor.
I spent 12 years in Naval Special Warfare Command after attending a Federal Military Academy and Bush, Mitt and you piss me off!
While all the "knuckle-draggers" in the current GOTP are scary, this one really makes me tremble -- with ANGER: "You get the real hawks like John Bolton, just waiting for another empty suit to fill with the latest war they've got on their agenda." War with Iran? Not on MY agenda! Further stupid, bellicose adventures throughout the world? NO f'ing way. Bolton should clean out his stupid mustache because what's festering in there is clouding any judgement he still has. Thanks, Chris (my Philly man!) for making this November choice fighteningly clear.
It's funny-scary how rural righties prefer to let their livelihoods to be dictated solely by market driven forces, yet do not even understand what they are asking for. Perhaps we should again use the term "Panics" when speaking of rollercoaster-ride down turns and "recession." Investor class people too run on emotions and fear just the same as all else. Doesn't anyone get that both Financial Markets and Governments only exist to serve humanity or at least the ones living in the US? In this country, We the People do not bow to either. Governments in part exist to exert control as an organ of the People's will to make certain Market Forces do not dictate that it is economically beneficial to make people work in chains--again.
You are so right, Chris. A vote for ANY repub is a vote for a radical ticket that is totally out of touch with Americans. R/R=Rich/Rich, leave the middle class out in left field.
Now for my views one of the other radical extreme ideas in the repub party: rape.
There are some very sick people who think that there are "classifications" of rape. RAPE is RAPE.
OH, and I forgot the LIES from the repubs. Seems to me that the R/R ticket thinks they are entitled to say whatever they want and spread LIES because they want to do that.
They are wrong again. LIES can be proven wrong and thanks to you, Chris, you are not letting them get away with the LIES. R/R will have the longest noses I have ever seen in a long time before this is over!
Chris! did you just try to pin the down grade of the economy on the Republicans? When did you quit being a reporter and start being an Obama cheerleader? Was is when you got a thrill up your leg? The way you spue your opinion and use vague stereo types, makes you sound like your doing a lot more to President Obama's leg then just having a thrill.
You need to have John Steward help you with your facts, becuase him being a comedian is less of a joke than you have become. I would like to, just once, see you back up one of your claims with " THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH" not just this half trues you always use.
Of course it was the fault of the Republicans. They should have voted for a clean debt ceiling bill like all Congressmen before them. Then they should have settled on the bill where they got 90% of what they wanted. Obama gave them three separate bills, including handing their original bill back to them and giving them everything they originally asked for.
When the credit agencies told us we would get a downgrade if the bill wasn't passed the citizens, economists, corporate leaders and even the right wing pundits ALL begged the Republicans to pass it but THEY refused to do so.
It was completely their fault, period.
The problem I have with the sacred abortion debate is what happens after they force a child to be born. what then? Seems that the rest of their agenda is anti child from cutting out support programs like head start, cutting back on welfare whch is where all these teenage mothers are, assulting enviornmental regulations that puts clean air over profits of the energy companies. Now lets get to the childs food. the same people who want to force this child into the world won't stop advertisers from directly manipulating it to buy suguary food, so this child can look forward to a life of chornic disease from type 2 diabetes and later heart disease, or do anything about climate change so this child may grow up in a hellish enviornment that lacks adequate food and clean water, and is ungodly hot, or get shot dead at a movie by a psycho who had unrestricted access to an automatic weapon, and more ammo than the local PD.
So we on the left can't get sucked into the simple pro-life or choice,and let them hide behind the bible but rather we need to shame these republicans into protecting the child that they demand to be born.
Not to mention these supposedly religious "pro life" people are almost all "pro death" penalty despite the fact that the last Pope was actively anti-death penalty, Jesus was actively anti-violent and was himself killed by the Roman death penalty.
Hypocrites who are ruled by emotions and fear. They do not use their higher powers of thought or reason at all. Our founding fathers would be horrified at the Republican (and probably the Democrat) party and would in all likelihood lead a second revolution.
One person's view of the presidential and vice presidential candidates:
1. It seems no candiate states what they believe or will do. Rather they start their talks with negative comments about their opponent.
2. If their negative, extreme, divisive rhetoric is what our nation wants to hear, what does that say about all of us?
3. I'd prefer to have the candidates talk to us this way:
Period. No negative or inflamatory or frightening words. No reference to the opponent. I think we want to understand what each of them stand for, and we will make a decision based on competing views and plans. This goes for the debates as well.
Because some of the priority topics......the economy, Medicare, etc.....are complex, I would like to see several expert panels, before the elections, where the smartest among us present the topic, the alternative plans, and the benefits and risks to each option, regardless of what the candidates are proposing. Help us be informed and make good decisions.
As usual, Chris puts a sharp point on the truth. What will win or lose the election for Romney is what undecided, moderate, independent voters decide on the questions Chris has raised: Does a Romney presidency drag along the extreme forces that comprise the current GOP or is Romney a moderate who for the past year has simply been pandering to a radical base only in order to get those forces behind him? And, if elected, would Romney have the independence to govern as a rational moderate, or will he take his marching orders from the radical right? The Romney campaign hopes--and needs--to get Romney accepted by independent voters as a reasonable alternative to President Obama, but so far only unhappiness with the economy has kept that hope alive. The V.P. pick of Paul Ryan and the recent comments of his bill co-sponsor Todd Akin, added to Romney's refusal to define himself in any terms that might honestly be called specific will continue to scare moderate conservatives and independent voters and, thus, unravel his candidacy through November.
The GOP has relied on extreme hatred and fear coupled with the denial of the fundamental right to vote for years now. It remains to be seen if the citizens of this country have had enough of these dirty tactics and will finally throw these bums out for several decades like we did the Dems in the late 70's.
Chris
I want to thank you for what needs to be said in this country of Ours who believe in the fairness of a persons Not for Their Race or Religion We have gone to far find fault. with things such as this ,When we should be talking how to make us One again like the "United " In The United States of America A persons policy can and will be challenged on Fact But the rest is and always should be BS !!
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln
thank you Chris