Obama’s Casualties
An acquaintance of mine who is mostly apolitical but knows that I write about politics called late last week and asked me how I felt about “your guy” Mitt Romney causing a woman to die from cancer.
“My guy”? Hardly (I told you he was mostly apolitical).
This person told me that a claim advanced by Obama super-PAC Priorities USA in a recent TV ad that Romney caused a woman’s cancer death was so absurd that anyone with an ounce of sense should be able to see through it. I replied that we’re not that lucky. Too much of the electorate either isn’t sufficiently perceptive or is so blinded by ideology that they will believe anything negative about those with whom they disagree.
Beyond that, I informed him that more news outlets, pundits, and bloggers than I can hope to enumerate have shown that the attempt to tie Romney to the death in 2006 of former GST Steel employee Joe Soptic’s wife Ilyona because of business decisions made by Bain Capital, where Romney withdrew from active management in 1999, doesn’t even work as attempted. A Wall Street Journal editorial last week summarized matters succinctly:
So Mr. Romney is to blame because of decisions he didn’t make at a business he didn’t run that may or may not have set in train a series of random unconnected events many years apart that included Ilyona Soptic’s illness. Even more culpable is the butterfly in Peking that flapped its wings and forever altered the course of history.
The attempts at backpedaling which have followed have shown that the Obama campaign and its super-PAC surrogates were primarily interested in foisting a big lie onto the relatively disengaged. New York Magazine‘s Daily Intel blog noted that Mr. Soptic and Priorities USA now deny that the ad “meant to give viewers the impression that Romney essentially killed a woman.” (Then why did you guys produce it?) Attempts by the Obama campaign to distance itself from the ad don’t pass the laugh test, given that, as Politico’s Reid Epstein reported, ”Soptic also appeared, wearing what appears to be an identical shirt, in a May television ad for the Obama campaign.” On Sunday, Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod told ABC’s Brian Ross-enabler George Stephanopoulos: “I don’t think anybody — anybody believes that Mr. Soptic’s wife, that Governor Romney can be blamed for the death of Mr. Soptic’s wife, and frankly, I don’t think the ad says that either.”
From all appearances, Team Obama’s mission is accomplished. The big lie is out there, and almost no one who hasn’t already made up their mind will read or otherwise be aware of the three items just noted.
In 1980, the campaign of vulnerable incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter tried to save their guy’s fragile hold on the presidency by claiming that Republican challenger Ronald Reagan’s election would, as expressed by legendary co-columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak, put a “mad nuclear bomber” in charge of the nation’s security. It didn’t work, but it made the election less of a Reagan blowout than it should have been. This time around, Obama is basing his by some accounts fading reelection effort on convincing enough Americans to matter that Mitt Romney’s election will lead to middle-class killing fields.
A desperate establishment press is rolling out new variants of the “fake but accurate” excuse first employed to defend the phony documents disgraced former CBS anchor Dan Rather presented in an attempt to discredit George W. Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service over three decades earlier during the 2004 presidential campaign. Probably the most risible is Michael Crowley’s August 8 post at Time’s Swampland blog. Crowley headlines the ad as “dishonest but important,” and describes it in his opening paragraph as “at once the most dishonest and substantive ad of the summer.” Here is more “logic” from Crowley:
Narrowly judged, the ad is scurrilous. … The distance between Romney and this woman’s tragic death is substantial, and even if you want to argue the causal culpability of Romney (which one can’t, as the Wall Street Journal stated — Ed.) and Bain, the ad deceitfully condenses the story.
… But the more accurate version of this heartbreaking story is still worth telling. Indeed it may be the best illustration this campaign has offered of how politics affects the lives of ordinary people.
Thus, it would appear that Crowley wishes to lower the bar to enable political campaigns to smear opponents with responsibility for others’ deaths without consequence as long as they somehow serve larger narratives (to be clear, I don’t, but he apparently does).
Well, if that’s the “standard,” there’s plenty of fertile ground in Barack Obama’s 43 months of presidential stewardship for similar claims, including but by no means limited to the following:
- Ethanol. In the midst of a summer drought which is hurting crop yields, the administration’s Environmental Protection Agency and Agriculture Department are resisting calls, even from its beloved United Nations, to waive the Renewable Fuels Standard, which dictates “that 9 percent of their gasoline pools are made up of ethanol this year, which means converting some 40 percent of the corn crop into the biofuel.” How many in the U.S. and around the world might die from hunger and malnutrition if the EPA fails to act?
- Energy Costs. Gas prices are heading towards $4 a gallon yet again, making commutes prohibitively expensive for many and affecting companies’ ability to hire additional employees. Meanwhile, the administration continues its war on coal, which will, as candidate Obama promised in 2008, cause energy costs to “necessarily skyrocket.” Some people will die sooner than they otherwise would have if they can’t find work and/or heat or cool their homes adequately.
- Delphi. The linkage here is far more direct. Completely contradicting past denials, recently released documents show that Obama’s Treasury Department “was the driving force behind terminating the pensions of 20,000 salaried retirees at the Delphi auto parts manufacturing company” during the 2009 auto company bailouts. The aftermath for those affected has been devastating, up to and including suicides. Meanwhile, “Delphi employees who were members of the United Auto Workers union saw their pensions topped off and made whole.” Treasury lied; salaried people, apparently not as worthy of legal protection as politically favored union members, died.
If Team Obama continues going down the “people will die if my opponent is elected” path, Mitt Romney’s campaign will need to strike back with direct arguments like Delphi and others. The administration’s regime of virtually open borders and the Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal would seem to be two obvious additional choices.
This is absolutely not the time for an unchallenged test of whether Obama’s strategy of appealing to the ignorant will work.
The casualties are most certainly stacking up.
http://uselections2012blog.blogspot.ca/
Casualties will pile up and pile up some more. That is because the Democratic Party defined the Republicans as proto-Nazi or proto-fascist in the 1930s, with themselves as the saviors of the “common man.” They have no other strategy than to attack, attack, attack, or as some intellectuals would call this strategy: “negative critique.” Moreover, the original Progressive movement had a limited agenda, mostly devoted to shoring up capitalism with “the Third Way”. But Communist infiltration during the 1930s and later, changed all that. Read all about it here: http://clarespark.com/2012/07/19/communist-ideas-go-mainstream/.
I love it.
The Romney team taking Obamas message of ‘Hope and Change, Forward’
into the ravings of an angry black man.
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Our ‘Great White Hope’ has finally jumped into the ring.
Mmmm…I love the smell of troll in the morning. “Great white hope”–racebait much?
Obama & Co. have succeeded in racing to the bottom of the political cesspool in record time. This is not unexpected. They are beginning to look a bi t desperate, and I hope their sleaze campaign continues. Romney/Ryan have responded quite effectively. This isn’t going to be a remake of the polite McCain debacle. To paraphrase our Fearless Leader, ‘ if they bring a knife, you bring a………………..Hellfire missile’. And don’t forget to send $$$ to the R/R campaign; those missiles are expensive. This election will be a defining moment for America.
Agreed, but with a caveat: Ignorance is sometimes willful. When your adversary has predefined you as stupid, or evil, or both, there’s a good chance that those who want to be included in his “compact and unified church” (Eric Hoffer) will deliberately exclude from consideration any and every evidence you might put forward for your position, no matter how well established or easily verified.
It’s awfully hard to overcome the “La, la, la, la, I can’t HEAR you” defense of willful ignorance.
Absolutely correct, FWP. Willful Ignorance…..the engine that drives liberalism.
From the most incompetent group of individuals to ever “occupy” the Administration of the U.S. Government, comes casualties beyond tally.
And these fools consider themselves INTELLECTUALS!
If scores of them can be convinced that they have the answer to America’s ailments, then masses can be convinced that Africa was the cause of it’s own slavery because of shoddy naval security, and that the American black people are responsible for compensation for all the descendants of slavery for their lack of African National Security.
There’s no limit to any crackpot theory that can be invented and published that will make these retards consider rational thought.
Some famous Russian guy once said /sarc
“One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic ” it seems to be the reelection teams thought process even if the one death is unrelated.
Not to be pedantic, but the author that quote is attributed was from Georgia, not Russia.
Obama gonna eat yo’ dawg! (And it better be organic, free-range, fair-trade dog — not a dog sandwich from Dog-fil-A!!!)
I wouldn’t worry if I were you. Michelle will make sure that the dog is not only organic, free-range, fair-trade but also HATE FREE /sarc.
Speaking of stupidity.
Standing in front of an audience that included many black people,
Joe(hair plugs)Biden said:
“They gonna put Y’all back in chains.”
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Obamas clown is back in town.
If we apply his supporters’ “standards.”?
What standards? Far as I can tell the Chicago Gang doesn’t have any.
And no one who worships Obama will develop standards. The greatest casualty is truth itself. If Obama succeeds, then the standard of lying will be inscribed in stone.
Exactly
Last Sunday, my 91-year-old dad went out to mow his yard in 104-degree heat. Overcome, he went in and laid on his bed. He’d be dead now if a family member who checked on him late Monday hadn’t become suspicious and broken in. Paramedics who arrived said his bedroom was 91 degrees. He didn’t run the air conditioner because that makes the electric bills too high. Obama almost killed my father!
And Obama and his energy department is responsible for the above normal temperatures because they will not let the U.S. Energy industry supply us with affordable energy to cool off with.
It costs too much to make ice, too!
If we had more energy, there wouldn’t be any drought in the midwest, and there wouldn’t be any crop shortage. Food prices would come down, and people on welfare would get more on their EBT card.
Tele-prompters cause dementia.
Joe Biden insulted all unionized steel workers with his “chains” remark, and offends any teacher responsible for his education, every time he speaks.
Tim – I would include Fast and Furious where an American agent did die and probably hundreds of Mexicans died as well. I would also include subsidies for wind farms where thousands of birds die to produce minimal amounts of electricity at astounding costs.
obama’s campaign is appealing to the intellectual maturity of his electorate. They must be convinced that they will be victims of some sort of massive apocalypse if he is not reelected. The same for biden.
The burning questions of this election, beyond the technicalities of the issues and the real world economics are:
How gullible is the American voting public?
How low can the campaign go, is there a bottom to hell?
If Larry Sabado says that 95% of the voters are already decided, then is there a game changer available?
Democrats falsely claim that Romney was responsible for a woman’s death 5-7 years after he left Bain. There is more truth saying that Obama is responsible for the 300 or more Mexicans killed by the guns his DOJ allowed the drug cartels to have. Because of his Executive Directive, he is shielding the responsible parties so they may never see justice. The buck stops with him.
If Romney and Ryan are elected 330 million Americans will die.
Eventually.
Of course, if Mr. Obama stays in office they’ll die a bit sooner as they age and panels of unelected bureaucrats decide whether they’re worthy of expensive medical treatments or due to condition and age just get pain killers to ease their passing.
It’s all in how you tell the story after all.
I would love to see team Romney produce a similar add attacking Obama. Then we can watch the pundits and the MSM swoon and fall back in their chairs. Then when they wake up then can crank out even more articles and thought pieces about the need for “civility” in the presidential race.
Headline 2022:
“Senior Citizen Pain-Pill Addict Tries To Attack Obama”
And let’s not even talk about the deaths caused by Obama’s foreign policy decisions. You don’t hear much about that these days, and you NEVER seem to hear anything about what’s going on in Afghanistan, where we are fighting a REAL WAR while suffering REAL Casualties. When was the last time any of you heard about Obama’s long-term plan for Afghanistan? As far as I can tell, the plan is to run away by 2014 and hope the whole country doesn’t fall to pieces before then. Some plan. That will be a great tribute for all the American men and women who died there. You hear NOTHING about Afghanistan and even less about the horrors that are going on in places like Iraq and Egypt. The Middle East is on fire and yet the Obama administration, not to mention the mainstream media, seem to not care at all about it. Well, maybe when Iran finally gets its nuclear bomb that will be worth a two minute slot on the evening network news. Pathetic.
And here’s a story that denies Obama one casualty to his credit:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/15/us-usa-campaign-binladen-ad-idUSBRE87E01F20120815
The 20,000 Delphi employees who lost their pensions in the GM giveaway to the UAw would have also lost their health insurance. According to the logic of the Obama pac ad, Obama will forever be responsible for any death from the time they lost their health care. Fair is fair. So how many deaths from this is Obama responsible for? I’m sure a Romney PAC could find a few.
‘Middle class’ has become re-defined as an entitlement. Middle class used to be a value, working for what you get out of life. The Constitution guarantees the right to pursue happiness, not happiness itself.
As I have strenuously argued for years, the Left has no boundaries, no limits; it will say or do anything to gain and retain its power, raw power over the rest of us. What is so disturbing is that Republicans play by their (Republicans’) self-imposed rules of modesty, politeness and fairness. AND THEY HAVE BEEN LOSING MORE OR LESS FOR 75 YEARS!
[I live in Virginia. I lie to Pollsters]
Perhaps the biggest casualty is what he has done to conservatives. Naturally optimistic, he has worn us down…robbing us of our nation and our freedoms.
Fight back. Have a glass of Virginia wine (sorry, CA…you blew it), think a little about what you are doing and dive in. To mix a couple of quotes, we must stop fearing the fear and deliver the blood and sweat needed.
Oooo Rah.
As I have been strenuously arguing for years, the Left has no bounds, no limits; it will do and say anything to gain and retain its power, raw power over the rest of us. The Republicans play by their (Republicans’) self-imposed rules of modesty, politeness and fairness. AND THEY HAVE BEEN LOSING MORE OR LESS FOR 75 YEARS!
Can’t they catch a clue?
The Sexy Prexy will use every ounce of asset of the strongest country in history for one reason: to get reelected. Why does he want reelection? First because he loves the easy, fat, cushy job itself. He can preen and have crowds admire and clap. He can read BS and have it repeated ad nauseum by the fawning media.
Second, he wants to get reelected to show his worthless, drunk, abandoning father that he (Obama) is worthy.
Third, he wants to change the United States into a dictatorship (benigh,like they all are) with him at the helm to improve everyone’s lives in the world to they way he wants.
So ladies and gentlemen, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
(The arrest of a top Goldman or other bank CEO should probably happen October 15!)
Anyone wanting to know where Obama, Axelrod and co. learned their tricks go to
Chicago clout blog http://www.chicagoclout.com/ it explains the methods Obama and crew used to run unopposed in his first election in Il. blatant lies are nothing compared to what they will stoop to.
AS ENGLAND, AMERICA ACTUALLY IS “ISRAEL” BY THE SEED OF JOSEPH(Gen. 48:16), AS PROVEN BY ENGLAND(i.e., “The sun never sets on the British Empire”). Brother u.s. had nothing left to do but have our “WOMEN ALONE”(REMEMBER EVE TO BEGIN MAN’S AGE?) NOW, WE ARE ABOUT TO END MAN’S AGE BECAUSE WE ARE BROTHER U.S. AND HAD NOTHING LEFT TO DO BUT HAVE OUR WOMEN “ALONE” PUT OVER U.S. THE “FORBIDDEN FOREIGNER”(ONLY NON-ANGLO-SAXON IN 6,000 YEARS FOLKS!) OF DEUTERONOMY 17:15 & “ANTI-CHRIST”(MARXIST) OVER U.S. OF REVELATION,CHAPTER 11! WARNING: SEPTEMBER 16, 2012 IS THE ANNUAL FEAST OF TRUMPETS(WAR) AND THE “SIGNS” OF THE TIMES TELLS ME TO WATCH FOR THE TWO-WITNESSES TO APPEAR TO WITNESS AGAINST U.S. ON THAT DATE! It also is written that the first(Cain) will be LAST & the LAST(ABLE), MURDERED BY CAIN, WILL BE FIRST TO BECOME RESURRECTED! THEREFORE, WATCH!
PLEASE! HOW DO I REPENT?
They are incapable of running a campaign on anything other than sleeze and lies. obama in particular has won every election by the sleaziest tactics imaginable.
Their bible (Alinsky) taught them all they now know about politics and leftists are nothing if not slaves to their internalized truths.
The fact that virtually no leftist ever breaks ranks demonstrates rather conclusively that they are incapable of having an independent thought.
If Obama is re-elected America as we know it will be lost. If there is any doubt read, ‘THE COMING: A TRUE STORY OF HORROR’ now at amazon.com. This book shows what we are facing and gives some startling facts as to Islam.
IMITATION IS THE MOST SINCERE FORM OF FLATTERY.
So;
Why do they protest when they are imitated in their ignorance?
It looks like Fox radio news is part of this. I heard a report about Romney comaplaining about the ad. It summarized the charge without saying anything about what is wrong with it. S othe complaint reinforces the ad. And this is FOX.
Romney needs to take a page from 72 and complain about the “Obama dirty tricks squad”.
Fox radio tends to simply regurgitate Associated Press copy.
It’s still 2 1/2 months out… the left might get nasty as election time gets near.
“—as long as they somehow serve lower narratives.”
There…fixed it.
The falsehoods launched against Romney are not surprising, they’re to be expected. After all, socialism itself runs on a highly developed fantasy that is carefully detached from cause and effect, and the troubling factual realities deductive reasoning requires.
So they lied about the Soptic deal. So what? The lie worked, we spent yet another week not talking about the increasing probability of an historical bond crisis, national bankruptcy and hyperinflation in the not too distant future. Didn’t here a peep about the socialists having not even passed a budget for three years, so the Soptic Solipsism carried the day.
There is no price to be paid for attempting such a gambit, even when caught out. The outcome is that half of us believe the essence of the Soptic “narrative” and will conclude that the the howls from the Republicans is not a matter of truth and lies, it’s just healthy rough & tough campaigning. The other half either don’t know about, or if they’ve heard the story, they don’t give a damn either way.
So it worked. This was a good play by Barack Hussein, Valerie, and the two Davids (Axelrod and Plouffe). Bravo.