It’s time to Break It Down!

For weeks, analysts, pundits, as well as regular Joes and Janes speculated about the prospects of anOctober Surprise prior to this year’sPresidential Election.  Since early October there had been a great deal of reckoning that the unanticipated landslide smackdown Willard Romney gave President Obama in the firstof three Presidential Debates was the leading candidate to fill that role.

All that began to change last week when meteorologists unveiled what they called for a time, Frankenstorm.  The weather system that would eventually becomeHurricane Sandy transitioned into a full-fledged monster of a storm over the weekend.  On Monday evening its center struck near Atlantic City, New Jerseyand expanded the process of having its way. It delivered mayhem and destruction over a stretch of coastline extending from North Carolina to Vermont, and stretching from New Jersey, westward, as far as Michigan.  The storm in its various iterations caused wind, rain, ice, snow, flooding, downed power lines, public transportation shutdowns, school and business closures, property loss, and multiple deaths…and it’s not over!

A couple of weeks ago, the Denver Debate results notwithstanding, curious folks were still wondering out loud if Governor Romneyhad some super secret Obama Kryptoniteup his sleeve, or if President Obamamight create and execute an exotic and all-encompassingpolicy initiative, or whether a totally unexpected development would insinuate itself into the political process.  I’ll take Category C, Totally Unexpected Developments,for a $1000, Alex!

In the Northern Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Season runs from June 1^st to November 30^th.  As a rule, the greatest numbers of storms occur from late August through September, reaching the climatological peak around September 10^th each year.  On average, 10.1 storms (hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions) occur each season, with 5.9 of them becoming hurricanes, and 2.5 of those becoming major hurricanes (Category 3 or above).

By generally accepted standards, Sandy was not amajor hurricane.  It was “only”a Category 1 storm.  Yet its effects threaten up to 60 million Americans, and as of yesterday, an estimated 7.5 million people, just in the State of New York, experienced power outages. The broad territorial swath covered by the storm and the attendant natural consequences were brought about by a confluence of circumstances. First, there was a relatively strong Caribbean based Hurricane which then interspersed with a moderately strong but not unusual continental weather system, known as a trough or dip in the jet stream.

There are a couple of additional dynamics that make Hurricane Sandyvery unusual, possibly even a “super storm.”  The initial element is its trajectory.  Most storms race directly out to sea; alternately, Sandy quickly made a hard left turn and headed toward landfall at nearly a right angle which means virtually every piece of coastline from the Jersey Shore to Cape Cod would likely take a hit. The other factor is that Sandy’s core, the part of the storm that looked and felt like a hurricane, remained in tact, even as cooler and drier air from the Continental United States wrapped around it.  Thecataclysmic result of this meteorological olio is that Sandy retained the worst features of both kinds of storm: a small core of hurricane-force winds around its center, and a broad expanse of gale-force winds extending hundreds of miles outward that will batter the shorelines for several days.

Hence, given the varying temperatures across many states we experienced a range of elemental forces that included wind, rain, and snow.  So just how BIG is this storm?  Well, I already cited the geographic dimensions; North Carolina to Vermont; New Jersey to Michigan; covered.  Talked about the forms of violent weather; check.  Mentioned the education and economic stoppage; the transportation shut down; yep. Noted the human and property devastation; done.

Those things, in their own right, place this storm alone at the top of the chart as the signature storm of this season in the United States.  However, all that notwithstanding, the feature that may yet set this storm apart as unique in the history of hurricanes is its potential to affect the outcome of the 2012 National Election.  In fact, good, bad, or indifferent, it is fair to say, it has already done so.

Governor Romney and President Obama have been engaged in one of the more intense campaign battles in recent memory.  The last 10 days would typically be a time when the candidates busily make their closing appeals, arguments, and requests for voters’ support, while completing a round-robinseries of visits to swing states.  Instead, on Monday, a mere eightworking days before the Election, both candidates withdrew from the campaign trail.

Many states in the area hit by the storm are engaged in Early Voting.  Some of those states have had to suspend Early Voting due to power outages, property devastation, and/or safety concerns.  Some states have extended days to register, or hours of registration.  Both the Governor and the President were officially offlineMonday when they took in the devastation and issued formal statements on the situation.  In addition, the President met with his Emergency Management Team to survey the scope of the storm and begin the process of storm damage remediation.

Governor Romney made an appearance in Ohio Tuesday, but framed the visit as an opportunity to encourage his supporters to participate in relief efforts for victims of the storm.  President Obama spent the day conducting a conference call with 20 Mayors and Governors of cities and states affectedby the storm, and visiting the Disaster Operation Center of the Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington, DCto discuss the storm.

Governor Romney has scheduled to begin gearing his campaign back up today with a visit to Florida, where he will be joined by former Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Marco Rubio.  For his part, President Obama announced he will be visiting New Jerseytoday to accompany Republican Governor Chris Christie in viewing the storm damage. After that, it is probably “back on.”  There will be 5 days left to wrap up the respective campaigns before Election Day.

Lest one suffer from the illusion that the campaigns ceased operations, just because the candidates were temporarily AWOL, they did not. Governor Romney intensified his efforts to snatch Ohio from President Obama’s apparent grasp by unleashing a spate of ads designed to suggest the President’s vaunted “Auto Bailout” is slatedto benefit China, rather than U.S. workers.  President Obama, Chrysler, GM, and Factcheck.org all agree this is yet another Etch-A-Sketch moment for the Governor.  Of course, if you have enormous sums of money, and ad space is available, it would be a shame and a waste not to buy some, right?

Here is where we find ourselves, collectively.  There is less than a week left before Election Day.  Early Voting in North Carolina ends Saturday.  It may be extended to as late as Sunday in some states.  Regardless, voting time is now.  Patriots on all sides of the political spectrum argue the United Statesoccupies a uniquely special place in the History of the world.  Many even content that we are an Exceptional nation.

One of, if not the primary reason for those glowing self-assessmentsis our grand experiment with participatory democracy.  Combined with Free Enterprise, our system of government, one man/woman-one vote, is the foundation of our political belief system.  If you haven’t exercised your franchise, I urge you, regardless of your political affiliation, or candidate of choice, to do so by voting; do not procrastinate!

It may be a fair characterization…”Sandy: The Ultimate October Surprise!”  However, you owe it to yourself, your family, your ancestors, and your descendents not to allow the storm to become the ultimate October excuse.  If you are too busy, too lazy, or too apathetic to vote, P-L-E-A-S-E, don’t bother to complain about the result.

I’m done;holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.comor http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Followin the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com;enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.”  Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_surprise

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/state-by-state-guide-to-hurricane-sandy/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9642624/Could-Hurricane-Sandy-delay-the-US-election.html

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/29/opinion/nolan-hurricane-sandy/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_storm

http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Politics/obama-visits-red-cross-campaign-kicks-back-gear/story?id=17601152

http://www.weather.com/weather/videos/news-41/top-stories-169/president-obama-visits-red-cross-31937

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/30/obama-visits-red-cross-storm-is-not-yet-over/

http://www.nj.com/us-politics/index.ssf/2012/10/sandy_shakes_up_campaign_calen.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204789304578089050425552118.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_crisis_of_2008%E2%80%932010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Chapter_11_reorganization

http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/08/obama-lets-repeat-auto-rescue-with-every-manufacturing-131566.html

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-29/obama-campaign-to-respond-to-romney-s-ohio-jeep-ad

http://factcheck.org/2012/10/romney-distorts-facts-on-jeep-auto-bailout/

It’s time to Break It Down!

The four-debate series between this year’s Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates has ended.  Monday evening President Obama and Governor Romney met for the third and final debate between the two Presidential candidates; Vice President Biden and Congressman Ryan held center stage a couple of weeks ago.

Foreign Policy was Mondaynight’s theme; Bob Schieffer of CBS’s Face the Nation was the moderator. The candidates, having each won one of the previous debates, faced off for the rubber match at Lynn Universityin Boca  Raton, Florida. Boca Raton was the location of the meeting where Romney made the now infamous 47% comments; interesting irony.  It was quite a show.

Not being a political operative, I am occasionally perplexed by the advice given to candidates, and the subsequent strategic initiatives they ensue. Remember the first debate in Denver?  How could you forget?  Even if you didn’t see it (I’m sure it lives on YouTube), at least one of the countless renditions surely found you. In the unlikely event you forgot…or missed it, the CliffsNotes summary is President Obama, presumably upon the advice of handlers who believed the campaign held a comfortable lead, opted to play it conservatively and “sit on his lead”

The result was he delivered a dreadful performance that, should he manage to win onNovember 6^th, will likely go down the personal low point of his first term in office.  That is in part because in this ultra-partisan environment, the Right managed to seize the post debate narrative, and have controlled it since then.  They characterized Willard Romney’s debate performance as transcendently brilliant, and conversely painted the President as uninterested, disengaged, somnambulant and at the same time arrogant.

Not surprisingly, I disagree with those characterizations of the President.  At least to the extent that I do not believe he demonstrated any of those adjectives.  He was victimized by his own Team, which saddled him with bad advice, and a worse strategic design.  Still, as noted above, his performance was, dreadful; atrocious even. I submit that by itself, that one event fundamentally changed the trajectory of the Obama Campaign vis-à-visthe Romney Campaign in the 2012 Race for the Presidency.

In fact, Team Obama has yet to fully recover.  Moreover, if Governor Romney becomes the President-Electafter the November 6^thelection, it is certainly my opinion that his victory can be traced back to October 3^rd, and his resounding victory in the first of the debates.

But I digress.  The point here is that on Monday evening, Willard Romney boldly, or at least shrewdly, stole a page out of the Obamaplaybook.  The Governor has been widely panned, by Democrats and by many Republicansalike, for shifting positions for his convenience and perhaps more often for political expediency.  Many of the Governor’s GOP Primary opponents citied his unctuousness as theyassailed him in the Party’s 20 Primarydebates.  His performance in the first Presidential debate seemed to set the Gold Standard for deconstructing his previous positions, and reinventing himself on-the-fly.

Alas,Monday evening, based, presumably like President Obama in the first debate, upon the advice of handlers, the Governordecided to sit on his momentum, in the process hoping to persuade women and independent voters that he will not lead the Country into more wars…and by doing so, garner their votes.  I have no idea whether this stratagem will yield its desired result.

Alternately, what I am certain of is that the Governor Romney of the Republican Primaries, and pre-debate Presidential campaign was a bellicosesaber-rattler who described himself as severely conservative.  He chided President Obama for establishing a timetable for leaving Afghanistan, he bashed him for opting not to leave 10,000or more troops in Iraq, he suggested the United States should not take extraordinary measures to find Osama bin Laden, and he asserted that if bin Laden were found in Pakistan, we should seek permission from the Pakistanisbefore pursuing him there.

President Obama took actions employing the opposite of Governor Romney’s original and long-held positions on those issues.  On these, and a host of other matters, Governor Romney praised and/or agreed with President Obama Monday night, all, ostensibly, in a strategic effort to avoid attacking President Obama in this, if you ask those loyal to Mr. Romney, “unimportant” Foreign Policy Debate.  It is, of course, interesting that the debate became in full-throated unisonlabeled unimportant by Romney-ites, after the polls showed that President Obamawon.

Forthree weeks now, Republicans across the spectrum have been on a variety of news shows, brazenly looking directly into the camera and stoutly denying that the litany of “brand new” positions being spouted by Willard Romney represent any shift, change, or alteration of his previously held positions.  I understand the nature of politics is that circumstances and new information may result in one revising his or her positions.  Indeed, that is the nature of the political universe.  However, in most instances, when such arcs of change occur, the pivoter at least owns up to and explains the change(s) or deviation(s); especially upon direct questioning.  Not Governor Romney, nor his boosters!  What I find most alarming about these hocus-pocusantics is that the vaunted Fourth Estate are loathe to hold the Governor, or his handlers, or his operatives, or his supporters accountable for this outrageously rank disingenuousness.

Quickly, to summarize the snap poll results of Monday’s debate, CNN viewers, whichoversampled Republicans, said President Obama won the debate.  The spread was:

• Winner 53% – 23%President Obama
• Better handle     terrorism and national security 64% – 36% President Obama
• Trust to handle an     international crisis 71% – 49% President Obama
• Better handle China 50% –     50%

It’s time to Break It Down!

The really big story today is last night’s Presidential Debate.  The secondof three such tilts, last night’s contest was held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, and moderated by CNN’s Candy Crowley in town hall format.  After a universally accepted unexpectedly effective performance by Governor Romneyin the first debate, two weeks ago, President Obama faced a great deal of pressure to stand and deliver in a manner to“stop the free fall” his campaign has experienced since the first encounter.  The narrative of the earlier debate was framed not just by the Governor’sbreakout performance, but by what one analyst referred to as the President’s somnambulant effort. 

While the debate is not the subject of this post, for those interested in the outcome…and I know most are.  Judging by the results of CNN’s snap polls (taken immediately after the debate) of registered voters, divided roughly into thirds (Democrats, Republicans, & Independents), President Obama won the debate by a margin of 46% to 39%.  The President also won among CNN’s in-studio audience of undecided voters.  The numbers do not reflect anywhere near the knock-out blow administered by Governor Romney in the first debate.  The format was different of course; but let there be no doubt, the President brought his A-game…and the results showed.  A note of caution, however.  Drilling down into the numbers found Governor Romney outpolled President Obama on several key metrics.  While that may be offset by the fact the number of Republicans polled was estimated to be oversampled by 8%, iti could also represent a critical gap Team Obama must address effectively in the next 20 days.

Today’s topic is one that probably would have received more coverage, were it not for the election, and more specifically, yesterday’s debate. From time to time I point out, to the chagrin of those who adhere to the Ann Coulter school of thought that racism has been abolished in America, that there are still Americans, many of them influential, who see the world through a racially tinged lens.  Pivot to Jason Thompson and one of the most recent cases.

You may be familiar with Mr. Thompson, a scion of Tommy Thompson, 42^nd Governor of Wisconsin, former Secretary of the U.S. Health & Human Services, 2008 candidate for President, and currently the Republican nominee for Senate in Wisconsin.  On Sunday, the younger Thompson, a Milwaukeeattorney was caught on tape saying, ‘We have the opportunity to send President Obama back to Chicago— or Kenya, We are taking donations for that Kenyatrip.”

One may be tempted to dismiss such a remark, as simply a cliché…”Tell President Obama, he of African heritage, to return from whence he came.” The problem with ignoring a comment such as this, especially one emanating from a gentleman of so vast a political heritage, and presumably refined political sensibilities, is it’s no secret, the President came from Honolulu!  Remarks such as this have been standard fare from the political Right and Tea Party Movement for some time, where Birtherismis a confirmed right, and the Presidenthas been characterized as everything from a native Kenyan, to a Socialist, aMuslim, Hitleresque, and the Food Stamp President.

Mr. Thompson made the comments at a brunch hosted by the KenoshaCounty Republican Party.  The function was attended by Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus, and Wisconsin Republican Party ChairmanBrad Courtney, both of whom also spoke. Mr. Priebus, Governor Thompson, local Party Chairman Nathan Conrad, and Michael Best & Friedrich, the younger Thompson’s law firm, have all issued statements indicating that Jason Thompson has apologized.  The law firm, made a point to distance itself from Mr. Thompson’s comments, and Priebus,Courtney, and Conrad all disavowed the remarks.

There are less than three weeks until the election.  While Mr. Thompson was ostensibly speaking at a GOP event in support of his father’s Senate campaign, he apparently felt compelled to weigh-in with his “sterling commentary” regarding the Presidential election, or perhaps, more pointedly, the President.  While it may seem counterintuitive, based on my writing, I really am not perpetually engaged in an endeavor to seek out and expose the people whom casually and constantly make racist remarks about President Obama. The sad fact is, it is such a common occurrence that I find it challenging to avoid reading or hearing about such comments (and related gestures, pictures, and other depictions).

With only 20 days left before the election, I don’t expect there to be a sudden hiatus on this kind of commentary. Nor do I believe people whom harborsuch notions are likely to reinvent themselves, or simply forego their deeply entrenched beliefs. Having stipulatedthat, what I would truly appreciate is for the masses to simply get real…and accept the unmitigated truth.  The truth of the matter is, until there is a hiatus on that type of commentary, and until the owners of such beliefs reinvent themselves and freely choose to forego this brand of “free speech”, we are still a society beset by issues of race, race consciousness, and yes Ms. Coulter, non-Liberal based racism.

In closing, just remember, when and if you ever want to “Send Him Back – To Kenya”…he’s from Honolulu; really!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.comor http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Followin the bottom right hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com;enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.”  Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-debate-schedule/2012-presidential-debate-schedule/

http://www.hofstra.edu/debate/index.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRrVxXP0uJc&feature=related

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/candidate-son-apologizes-urging-voters-send-obama-back-kenya-article-1.1184418

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/political/jason-thompson-obama-birther-joke-tommy-thompsons-son-apologizes

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/candidate-son-apologizes-urging-voters-send-obama-back-kenya-article-1.1184418

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reince_Priebus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Courtney

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/tommy-thompsons-son-apologizes-after-suggesting-voters-should-send-obama-back-to-kenya/2012/10/15/5cbbad02-16e3-11e2-a346-f24efc680b8d_story.html

It’s time to Break It Down!

OK, so I apologize for infusing the title with trendy esoteric cinamatic jargon, but I’m an avowed Trekkie, so humor me.  As a StarTrek fan, there are numerous episodes between the various TV shows and movies, which I find entertaining, and occasionally inspiring.  The Kobayashi Maru, featured in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, is a test, and is an element in at least two of the Star Trek franchise films, as well as in several novels.  The test is a euphemism for “a no-win situation.”

Having said that, it is worth noting that just a couple of weeks ago, the GOP put forth a conspiracy theory that suggested the pollsters had aligned against their candidate.Indeed, they argued, the polls were inaccurate.  Not surprisingly, at the time, a wide array of polling services showed Governor Romneytrailing; a number them, significantly.

Similarly, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the monthly Jobs’ Report lastFriday and reported that unemployment fell below 8% (7.8%) for the first time in 43 months, a number of the worlds most famous and influential conservatives stated and echoed the notion that the President or his surrogates and/or operativeshad “cooked the books.”  That is a really interesting assertion, when one considers that for 43 consecutive months, the GOP has used that very report, produced by that same agency (almost universally agreed to be a stable of numbers geeks and policy wonks, not aligned with the White House, no matter the occupant) as the source of choice to demonstrate the President’s inability to whittleunemployment to any number below 8%.

Suddenly after one report (on numbers that had been trending that way, even if slowly), neither the source nor the number, just as with the polls, is valid any longer.Speaking of polls, Willardreceived a significant (and expected) bounce after his debate performance.  Perhaps I just missed it, but I have heard very few Republicans question the accuracy or validity of these newly resurgent Romney numbers. 

Based on these examples, there appears to be an interesting relationship between the GOP and what President Clinton loosely referred to as arithmetic.  Did I hear someone say 47%?  Since candidate Romney, after 2 ½ weeks of doubling down, finally disavowed his infamous comments on that subject, I will let that go.

The scenario at that time of the debate was viewed in some circles as hypercritical; so dire in fact, it was widely rumored that were Romney to lose the debate, the enormous GOP funding streams, Super PACs included, were set to shift their focus from Governor Romney to the Senate, where Republicans hope to garner a majority in November.  It is not a stretch, with just less than 5 weeks left (last Wednesday) in the campaign and a plethora of negative news and polling, that Team Romney viewed the environment as close to “a no-win situation.”

What a difference the debate made.  Just so no one is confused, let me be clear, this is not an Obamaapology or excuse story.  Allow me to stipulate, without caveat, Willard Romneywon last week’s debate.  No amount ofspin can change, or even amelioratethat fact.  President Obama, strategy notwithstanding, underperformed.  In doing so, he missed a golden opportunity to put an inordinateamount of pressure on the Romney Camp, and instead, now faces tougher sledding than he would have, had he just held serve, to say nothing of the different dynamics that would have materialized had he actually won.

But this is a post about Willard.For months now, he as been characterized, based on statements by one of his own operatives, as an Etch-A-Sketch candidate (Remember that “Etch A Sketch” entered the campaign lexiconMarch 21, 2012, when Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom signaled on CNN that Romney could transform his primary campaign message for the general election by hitting a reset; “it’s almost like an Etch-A-Sketch,” he said then.).

In the Great Debate, Part I, Governor Romney eschewed the Tea Partymagnet positions he successfully parrotedduring the GOP Primaries, and even up to this point in the general election campaign.  In effect, he looked a lot like the Massachusetts moderate that hard-right mavens, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Rick Santorum tried, diligently but fruitlessly, to warn true conservativesto shun.                                                               

A man on a mission, Governor Romneydistinguished himself by making a 180 degree turn and after firmly and repeatedly vowing to slash taxes for the wealthiest Americans and hurling the class warfare label at President Obama for saying he would raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires, the Governor quite simply reinvented himself on camera. In doing so, he went on to make at least 10 head-scratching assertions, including:

• He will not reduce the taxes of high income Americans.
• He will, after repealing Obamacare, advocate the implementation of his own   individual mandate plan — “And the best course for health care is to do what we did in my state” — but it would be state by state, along a federalist model.
• He played the MediScare card – by most accounts, a discredited Democratic tactic against     entitlement reform, but apparently acceptable if it is done by a Republican trying to win Florida.
• He obfuscated     around the question of whether he supports ending “too big to fail” — which might mean breaking up     the big banks, and/or restoring safeguards from the 1933 Glass-Steagall     banking reform act, repealed in 1999— or simply repealing the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, which regulates Wall Street.
• He declined to specify, or even clarify what     exactly it is he proposes to put in place of Obamacare or Dodd-Frank,     should he repeal them
• He indicated he would end oil company subsidies     if corporate rates were lowered enough – that may be news to Exxon.
• He said Obama     should have backed the Bowles-Simpson     Commission’s deficit reduction proposals, though he did not back the     recommendations of that panel himself.
• He advocated a balanced deficit reduction plan but refused to raise any     revenue
• He vowed he’d kill “Sesame Street”icon Big Bird; though his enthusiasm for budget cutting does not     square with his commitment to increasing military spending to 4% of GDP.
• He chose not to specify the loophole closures     which would make his 20% tax     cuts revenue-neutral for top     income earners.

Governor Romney’s debate performance was impressive.  However, the most outstanding aspect of that outing may not have been his opposition to President Obama’s policy positions, but rather his disregard for his own policies and positions.  As a Star Trek fan, I know I will always remember the night “Willard Channeled Captain Kirk; Changed the Kobayashi Maru!”  I’m done; holla back!  

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.comor http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday.

It’s time to Break It Down!

Occasionally, one has the sense of being in the right place at the right time, or having said or done the right thing at the most propitious of moments.  Perhaps kismet is the personificationor actualization of this sense.  In retrospect, last week’s post is tinged with irony, and filled with kismet.

Now I understand full well, the Presidential Debates begin tonight with the first of three debates, plus a tilt between the Vice Presidential candidates.  This evening’s event, focused on Domestic Policy, will convene at the University of Denver, located in Denver, Colorado.  Air time is 9:00 p.m. Eastern.  The coverage and the fully amplified aftermath (who won, who lost, etc.) will dominate the airways, at least for political news, for a day.  Friday will bring a fresh new topic; the release of the September Jobs Report.  In related news, the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised job growth numbers for the year upward by more than 450,000 jobs.  The number is still not enough, though it does provide good news for the Obama Administration.  POTUS has now seen more jobs added than have been lost, during his term in office.  But that is then; this is now.        

Right now, my focus is on extending the conversation started in the previous blog post.  Last Wednesday, in a thorough fashion, Break It Down explored the notion, posited most aggressively by theGOP, that voter fraud is a serious and widespread problem.   Moreover, if you listen to the relentless drum beat on the Right, what you hear is that the insidious behavior is the singular purview of the poor, minorities, and that olio of humanity we have come to know, in the last 30days, as the 47%.  Hence, the brilliant and timely Republican rescue plan; a series of new voter fraud laws, aimed mainly, and ever so coincidentally, at political swingstates with GOP state legislatures.

Briefly, the predominance of data shows, as noted in last week’s post, it is a solution in search of a problem.  At least, it was!  Word has emerged from Florida that a consulting firm DBA(Doing Business As), Strategic AlliedConsulting, tasked by the RepublicanNational Committee (RNC) and the Florida GOP with leading voter registration activities in the state, has been terminated after having been accused of…drum roll please…fraudulentvoter registration activities (which while different from voter fraud, is as close as we’ve come).  Remember, actual voter fraud is quite rare.  Voter registration fraud, not so much; low wage workers are given taxing quotas, and frequently resort to questionable tactics.  They then, after a short time, usually before getting caught, move on to other jobs.

Strategic Allied Consultingwas formed and headed by Republican consultant,Nathan Sproul.  Mr. Sproul took on the assignment of conducting voter registration and turnout activities in several key contested states, including, voterregistration in:

And Get-Out-The-Vote activities in:

1. Ohio
2. Wisconsin

• Destroying voter     registration forms of Democrats
• Duping college students into registering as Republicans
• Refusing to register Democrats or independents

In North Carolina, officials with the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections say they’re sending five voter registration forms to state election officials after concerns the documents could be fraudulent.

It’s time to Break It Down!

Yesterday was our nation’s first National Voter Registration Day.With that in mind, this thrust seemed apropos for today’s topic.In the past decade, a wave of new voter laws has been enacted; nearly a thousand have been introduced in 46 states since 2001.More are pending.The pace has escalated sharply in the past two years, since the 2010 takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives and sharps upswing in the number of Governorships held by the GOP.These legislative initiatives are expected to affect voter behavior.The pertinent questions are why, and to what end?

In all fairness, these statutes are viewed differently in different circles.However, with just as much fairness, it must be noted, the default bogeyman, “voter fraud,” while hotly debated, struggles to survive the “test of reasonable man scrutiny.”I will delve more directly into that notion momentarily.

Meanwhile, as you might well imagine, in the shadow of America’s rapidly approaching national election, where the public is thought by most observers to be fairly evenly divided, any scheme or action that has, or is perceived as having, the wherewithal to fundamentally alter the outcome is certain to be controversial.Such is the case with what are commonly referred to as “voter suppression laws.”

The basic nature of these provisions is to do one or more of the following to tighten identification rules for voting:

• Young
• Elderly
• Poor
• Black
• Hispanic

It’s time to Break It Down!

The Republican nominee for Presidentis a very wealthy man.  He is obviously adroit at counting, especially when it comes to money.  His various bank accounts, whether domiciled in Massachusetts, the Caymans, Switzerland, or elsewhere, attest to that.

Recent developments leave some question as to just how rigorously Mr.Romney applies this erstwhile exceptionally refined skill set when counting people in general, voters more precisely, and people likely to vote for him in particular.  Over the course of the campaign, questions and concerns have arisen regarding whether Candidate Romney has effectively managed to stay on message, maintain previously stated positions, and project a consistent message to different audiences.

These concerns have emerged and coalesced, in large measure, because the GOP has become a house-divided.  This division played an integral role during the Republicanprimaries, and was instrumental in the popularity of various candidates rising and falling during the primary season.

Willardbrought a checkered past to the table.  He was generally regarded as a Moderate Governor when he led the State of Massachusetts. At one time, he held pro positions onabortion, gay marriage, and of course he implemented health care reform legislation that became the progenitor for the law he now disdainfully refers to as Obamacare.

All this and more made him the anti-candidate for the newly transcendent, ultraconservative strain of the GOPknown as the Tea Party, as well as for several of his more conservative leaning primary rivals, including Michele Bachmann, the Rick Brothers (Perry &Santorum), Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain.  Despite the head winds resulting from this opposition, Romney prevailed.  In some cases his opponents self-destructed.  Rick Perry, for example, could not avoid stepping on his own message.  Meanwhile Herman Cain was done in by revelations of indiscretionsfrom his past.

Mr. Romney’sefforts also benefited from both his own personal fortune, and from the tail winds generated by Super Pac money, made possible by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling.  In effect, he was able to spend his remaining rivals into oblivion.  At different times, he aimed his financial Tsunamiat Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich.  They had no answer.

A couple of days ago, Mother Jones Magazinereleased a video showing Willard Romneymaking comments about Obamasupporters that he later described as off-the-cuffand inelegant.  However, he neither rescinded them, nor offered an apology.  Those comments were recorded, surreptitiously, in May at a $50,000 per plate fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida, and released on a day the Romney Campaign had widely circulated news that it was endeavoring to reset the candidate’s message.  It appears the reset directive may have come a day too soon.

The gist of the Governor’s comments can be distilled into these essential points:

Brooks added,

Brooks went on to add,

Finally, Brooks notes:

It’s time to Break It Down!

Yesterday marked the annual observance of Nine-Eleven (9/11); the 11th anniversary.  Last year I wrote a post, “Calling All Patriots; 9/11 Ten Years Later,” acknowledging the 10th Anniversary.  That edition framed specific details of one of America’s most fateful days, including segments about the 2,977 victims, the Twin Towers, The Pentagon, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and the four flights (2 American and 2 United) for which the aforementioned sites served as ultimate final earthly destinations.  I invite you to click on the link referenced above and review the post at your leisure. 

As a postscript to last year’s 9/11 post, a new tower, One World Trade Center (1WTC) is currently under conrstruction, and due for completion in 2013.  The 104-story skyscraper will be, upon completion, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, and the third-tallest building in the world.      

In today’s post, I will attempt to describe and put into perspective some of the more interesting developments, especially contradictions or position changes, emerging from the 2012 Republican Presidential Campaign.  Willard Romney’s repeal Obamacare mantra took a serious detour over the weekend when he suddenly began explaining how he would “not repeal all of Obamacare”on day 1 of a Romney Administration.  Turns out he actually likes certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  Imagine that; will wonders never cease to amaze?

Actually this Etch-A-Sketch (See video tribute, courtesy of Ms. Bree Newsome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t-A2zXI1RU&feature=youtu.be) moment is not all that surprising; probably should have been predicted.  In fact, perhaps it was.

CNN Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger in a documentary entitled “Romney Revealed: Family, Faith and the Road to Power,” interviewed Redstate.com’s Erick Erickson, among others, about Romney.  In two brief anecdotes, Erickson noted:

1. “If a group of conservatives were locked in a room and asked to raise their hands if they believed Romney would fully repeal Obamacare, not a single hand would go up.”
2. There was a period of time when Romney referred to himself as “severely conservative.”  Erickson went on to note, “conservatives do not refer to themselves using that term;” rather it is a phrase others use, and in a pejorative sense.

As most observers know, Obamacare was modeled after Romneycare.  By all accounts, the Healthcare Reform program in Massachusetts, adopted during Governor Romney’stenure in the Bay State, is wildly successful. Ninety-nine percent of Massachusetts’ citizens are covered.  You might say, “Governor Romney was for Healthcare Reform before he was against it.”

During the Republican Primary debates, Tim Pawlenty, former Minnesota Governor, and one of the challengers to Governor Romney for the GOP Nomination, suggested that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the President’s Healthcare Reformlegislation) was a derivative or an amalgam of Governor Romney’s Massachusetts’ law.He referred to it as Obamneycare.

In an interview this past Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Romney’sfirst national interview on a show other than Fox News Sunday, the Governorrevealed, surprisingly to his Right Wing/Tea Party supporters, that he favors some elements of the program he has excoriated consistently, and promised to repeal on day 1.  Give Erick Erickson his due; he called it.

Reports indicate the Governor spent last week during the Democrats’ Convention, holed up, preparing for the upcoming debates; the first of which is scheduled for Wednesday, October 3^rd. at the University of Denver, in Denver, Colorado.  The theme for this debate is Domestic Policy; Jim Lehrer, host of NewsHour on PBS will be the Moderator.  The full Presidential/Vice Presidential Debate series schedule is accessible by clicking on the linkbelow:

• http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-debate-schedule/2012-presidential-debate-schedule/

It’s time to Break It Down!

The nation celebrated Labor Day on Monday, and by the end of this week, the Political Conventions will be in the books.  In other words, the 2012 Presidential Campaign will be underway in earnest.

Now it may seem a little strange to suggest that the rhetoric, animus, and negative ads can get any more pervasive,but yes they can…and they will.  Traditionally, Labor Day is thought of as the time when the big guns come out, and things get really serious.

In reality, Mr. Romney just received the Republican nomination last week.  Before last Thursday night, he was, technically, only the Party’s presumptivenominee.  As such, despite the near certainty that the results of the GOPPrimaries would be validated, rules dictated that he could not gain full and complete access to the treasure trove of funds available to the nominee.  Funds that will in large measure be used to augment Super PAC’sby creating and airing negative ads that obscure, dissemble, or boldly lie about President Obama and his record.

Governor Romneyand his hand-picked partner, Congressman Ryanare now the GOP’s official Champions.  They will be pulling out all the stops to secure the prize Senator Mitch McConnell,Senate Minority Leader, first gave voice to December 7, 2010 when he said:

“Our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny

Senator McConnell’s position, while troubling in its own right, is not the first indication of the active resistance to President Obama’s tenure from the far right.  No, going all the way back to the transcript of Rush Limbaugh’s January 16, 2009 Radio Show, we find what may have been the genesis of this unbridled anti-Obama sentiment.  During that show, the host noted receiving a request from what he described as a major print publication, asking prominent politicians, statesmen, scholars, businessmen, commentators, and economists to weigh-in with a 400-word opinion expressing their hopes for the Obama presidency.

Almost as an afterthought, the requester added, “We would love to include you.”      

After his trademark prologue, Mr. Limbaugh replied:

“Okay,I’ll send you a response, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.”

For those of you with some sense of history, it’s important to note, just for the record, January 16, 2009 was four days before Senator Obama was inaugurated.  Not four days after; not even the day of the inuaguration.  Before the guy ever set foot in the Oval Officeas Commander-in-Chief, the die was cast. .  That fact alone symbolizes how long-held, how deeply entrenched, and how irreducibly intractable is the nature of this insidiously hateful spirit.

Now this may sound personal, trivial, and lacking citation.  I feel you, because frankly, after watching the onslaught of GOP ads that alter the facts, or worse, simply fly in the face of them, I have an expanded appreciation for well-researchedrationally presented documented information.With that in mind, I offer my most pointed observation (with source).

In his new book, “Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S.House of Representatives,” Robert Draper lays out in fairly specific detail how on the night of President Obama’s inauguration, a group of Republican lawmakers and strategists (including Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, and Newt Gingrich) met at for a private dinner at a swanky Washington establishment known as The Caucus Room.  While there, they crafted what they envisioned (and subsequently executed) the steps they hoped would accomplish several ends, including:

·        Ensure that President Obama and his policies failed

What a chilling Top 10 List!  From South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson’s infamous “You lie,” to the ridiculous notion of Mr. Romney’s deceptive assertion, that he actually hoped Mr. Obama would have succeeded, Republicanobstructionism has been rampant, and we now know, planned, purposeful, and designed to promote negative consequences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

http://www.gopconvention2012.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-A09a_gHJc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2009/01/16/limbaugh_i_hope_obama_fails

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuYjWbAU2eU

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Wilson_(U.S._politician)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/09/gop-rep-wilson-yells-out_n_281480.html

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/48865322#48865322

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Draper

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Ask-What-Good-Representatives/dp/1451642083

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/robert-draper-anti-obama-campaign_n_1452899.html

http://www.thecaucusroom.com/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Booker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deval_Patrick

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Castro

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Romney

It’s time to Break It Down!

Near the end of The Wizard of Oz (The Wiz, if your predilections insist), Dorothy exclaimed, “There is no place like home!”  Apparently, that’s how Willard “Mitt” Romney felt last Friday as he boastfully told a crowd in Commerce, Michigan (Romney was born in Detroit, Michigan) that “no one’s ever asked to see my birth certificate,” making a clear reference to the divisiveand racist inspired birther (conspiracy theory) controversy.  In the past, Mr. Romney has stated repeatedly he believes President Obama was born in Hawaii, and left the banal birther crap to his more politically unctuous surrogate, Donald Trump.

Afterward, he insisted that his comments were a joke, and that rather than referring to President Obama and his birth certificate, the statement was intended simply to pay homage to the fact that he (Willard) was back in the state where he and his wife were born.  He then reiterated, what he has often said in the past, “President Obama was born in Hawaii.”

There is no denying, he had every reason to feel he deftly handled the matter.  Mr. Romney walked back the statement in a manner that at once, sidestepped an apology, implied that a liberal media was too sensitive and/or biased to discern “the joke,” and most important, dog-whistled the far Right fringe a most comforting note, “I got your back!”

As the Presidential campaigns have labored on, many of the blatant half-truths, unsubstantiated innuendo, and virulent, bald-faced lies have been smartly packaged and foisted upon the airways by nameless, faceless Super PACs.  While we hate that it has come to this, we recognize this practice has quickly become inured as part and parcel of the fabric of campaigning, especially at the highest level.  In other words, “it is what it is!“

Given that concession up front, no matter how reluctant, we know that such deception will, sooner or later, due to convenience, or by necessity, make its way to the candidates.  On Friday, Willard bit into that apple. On this one, he cannot stand behind some Super Pac whose message he does not control, wink, wink.  Nor can he just be coy and say he did not write or frame his surrogates’ message.

Nope, this time, Mr. Romney is not demurring on his taxes; nor are we left to ferret out when exactly he left Bain Capital.  This time is different.  On Friday, we heard, in Willard’s own words, what he really wants to convey (to skeptical Right Wing voters) about what distinguishes him from President Obama.

No, it was not his policies, some of which are eerily similar to the President’s (See Massachusetts Health Care law and the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan).  Last Friday anyway, Mr. Romney wanted to underscore the source and validity of his birth certificate.  With that, he figures you are smart enough to infer how that makes him different…and better for us than President Obama.  So, one fine day, in Commerce, Michigan, “Willard the Joker Played the Birther Card; then Denied It!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_(1939_film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiz_(film)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-jokes-about-his-birth-certificate-obama-campaign-accuses-him-of-embracing-birtherism/2012/08/24/bda35810-ee14-11e1-b0eb-dac6b50187ad_story.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/chris-christie-birther-joke-mitt-romney_n_1835720.html

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/24/mitt_romney_birther_in_chief/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/24/1123736/-Mitt-Romney-goes-birther

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zjIzpAYAwE