The revelation of a spring fundraiser where Mitt Romney said he used inelegant language in reference to President Barack Obama’s supporters has stirred a whirlwind of controversy for the GOP nominee. The Videos showing him talking about the “47 percent who are with [Obama], who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them,” are viral.
Is this a fatal gaffe for the Cranbrook graduate's presidential bid? Or can he revive his chances with the debates?
PG
9:10 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Alexis de Tocqueville warned in 1835, “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.” Today, the Nanny State takes more and more from the paychecks of working people, not just "rich" people, to give more and more to others. Mitt Romney's remarks bring that issue to the surface at last. Obama has his own closet full of statements that reveal his attitude toward the American people, and his own failures, such as: "Our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there is no evidence of that in their daily lives...they get bitter, and they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them...to explain their frustrations" That was Obama's take on the character of the American people when he was running for office, and many would say it hasn't changed. Both men's comments reveal the real choice of the election. Are we to move further toward a model of "redistribution" from those who earn any income at all to those who do not, or will we return to a model where individual responsibility and freedom to both succeed and fail is the norm (with a safety net the truly poor, disabled, elderly)? Will there be two more Supreme Court Justices who see the Constitution as a definition of rights permitted by the government for those it governs, or as a statement of the rights inherent in free people, endowed by God not man, that no government can withhold?
ray
9:18 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
another gun wheeling, bible thumping thug
R Gibson
11:31 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Easy does it there Ray. BTW I think the word you are looking for is wielding.
akram yunas
11:50 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Gaffe???
This was not a gaffe, please. This was a man speaking to folks who look, think and act like him. He was among FRIENDS. The words were coming from his heart and out his mouth. This is like calling a speech at a klan rally by the grand wizard: A Gaffe.
At least a grand wizard will not back away from his words, cowards do.
R Gibson
11:57 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Careful Akram, there are a lot of words Obama has spoken that he and others have denied. Like he believes in the redistribution of wealth. But to your question, who said anything about a Gaffe? Romney hasn't, Ryan hasn't. BTW, I think your use of the Klan analogy is in very poor taste. I love how you liberals always have to bring race into the picture. It gets everyone excited. Can't have a reasonable exchange of ideas between adults can ya.
R Gibson
11:51 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
What astounds me is that the liberals among us, like Ray, who defend Obama at every turn, don’t have the spine to say what they really believ. I think Obama’s record is pretty clear, he firmly believes in the redistribution of wealth. That is a socialist government. I don’t understand how you can deny this, or why would you? He is your candidate; it’s what you want, so why not just say it, and be done with it. They are Obama’s own words. No different than Romney’s words now that is causing such an uproar. My only concern is that maybe just maybe, the liberals among us, like Ray, may not really understand what Obama and Reid and Pelosi really want to do with this country. If we have any hope of changing the course of this country we need to get to work and stop the infighting. We have almost 50% of the population living off the work and wages of the other 50%. I am not talking about Retirees and Disabled Military. Yes, there are those who genuinely need help and they should get it. No one is suggesting that we take away benefits from anyone who absolutely needs them or Soc Security. But I am being asked to sacrifice an awful lot and so is my family and I think we have a right to ask those who we are providing assistance to to hold up there end of the bargain. FDR didn’t let people sit around on their butt collecting a check. They had to work for it. We have made it to easy and to convenient to get the government to pay you for your subsistence.
akram yunas
11:58 am on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Same old conservative crap from Gibson: the sky is falling. Run. Hide. The liberals are coming to take everything we have and give it away.
Do you my good friend know that when Romney's father first came to this country: he was on government assistance for food, housing, and kids education. LOOK IT UP!
Your man is a product of a system that helped his father and eventually him. Don't knock a system where we are all in this together. It has worked and is working. If you are so afraid of someone re-distributing your wealth, move. Suggestion: I hear cayman islands is a good place for the rich to hang out in.
R Gibson
12:41 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Akram you and your liberal friends want me to pay higher taxes and to lose deductions to redistribute my money to other people. Do you deny this? Yes, Romney’s parents did have a time on food stamps. But, his dad rose to the highest ranks in Corporate America at American Motors. He was Governor of Michigan. The only way to accomplish this all was through hard work. Now let’s review a few things about Obama’s tenure at the helm of our great country. 15 million more people on Food Stamps. 8.6 million on Soc Security Disability a 20% increase since he took office. 6 Trillion in new debt 3 times the rate at which Bush 43 spent money. What is the solution proposed by the librals like Akram? Tax the rich. Ok how much do you propose? Lets say 100%, now how many days will that run the Government? Less than 30. The only way to solve this problem is to tax us all, either through increased levels, or by taking away deductions, or both. Obama keeps saying that we should ask those more fortunate among us to pay for the less fortunate. I don’t have a problem with that when it is really needed, but people shouldn’t be buying smokes when they are on food stamps. Old guys don’t need Viagra paid for by Medicare, and 30 year old college law students who live in Georgetown, shouldn't ask me to pay for their birth control or abortions.
R Gibson
1:01 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Akram for you to suggest that I move to another country if I am afraid of the government taking my money away, tells me you have no idea what has made this country great for all this time. It has become obvious to me that you have not adopted to this countries way of life. Instead you have chosen to try to change our country in favor of your expereince. See this country wasn't founded on those principles, and you don't really understand what it took by others and their sacrifices to provide you the freedoms you now enjoy.
R Gibson
8:45 am on Friday, September 21, 2012
Akram, you misunderstand. I was as unhappy with Bush as you were. However, let me comment on a few things you say.
1. Obama has been in the office for 4 years. What has he taken from you wanna be Rich folks and re-distributed? NOTHING... FACT! False, he has increased the per person debt since he took office from $34,000 to $50,000. He has simply delayed it.
2. With regards to 2,3,4,5 yes those are all facts, I do not disagree with you, but to what end? We are printing money at an unprecedented and unsustainable rate. Only because QE 1,2,and 3, are you able to site those numbers. What is going to happen if there is no 4. Bernanke’s contract is up in the middle of 2013, the person who takes over that job next year is going to have a complete mess to undue.
3. As for #6 yes there were at the end of that 2nd term, during the financial collapse. I think I read 23 million created. But come on, you know and I know, Presidents don’t destroy or create jobs. Those are just consequences of the economy they have.
4. Lastly, yes we have had miserable job gains for 30 months. But if he is doing such a great job, why is unemployment still above 8% and the real number closer to 16%. And why is Latino unemployment proportionately much higher and the black unemployment 3 times higher than the national average.
Dee Kay
7:23 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Recent campaign gaffe? His entire run has been one continual gaffe after another. Which is more of a gaffe, saying that 47% of the country is getting "free money" and those people won't vote for him, or him and his followers actually believing that he will garner at least 50.5% of the remaining 53% of voters? Delusional zealotry will not help romney overcome his lack of honesty, morals, or ethics no matter what his followers think. Better luck in your next 2 or 3 runs romney. You don't stand a snowballs chance in this election.
R Gibson
8:29 am on Thursday, September 20, 2012
Dee Kay, you can say a lot of things about Romney. Is he an elitist, probably, does he relate to the middle class, not very well, is he filthly rich, certainly, has he been a very successful business man, obviously, is he stiff, absolutely, a good politician, not whatsoever. But I don't think you can say he is dishonest, lacks morals, or ethics. You have no foundation for those claims. Aren't you just engaging in the same delusional zealotry as a liberal about Obama? Are you happy with 8+% unemployment, $6 trillion in new debt in 3 years, 15 million more people on food stamps since he took office, no budgets passed in 3 years? 12 Senior officials named in the Fast and Furious report of wrong doing, White House advance team members bringing hookers to the hotel for an overnight visit where the President is staying. Do I think Romney is a great candidate, no, but do I think he is a heck of a lot better then Obama and his administration, yes.
Kate Aragon
11:36 am on Thursday, September 20, 2012
Without all the polictical retoric, the simple truth is this: Mitt Romney will take America to a place it has never been: it will elect the first King! I know Mitt Romney personally. He lives in a glass bubble and refers to the poor in distasteful ways. Is Barack Obama a great president? No. Will Mitt Romney be a better president? No! Absolutely not! The devil you know is better than the one you don't know...yet! You will find that you will regret voting for Mitt Romney. 4 years is a long time for me to say," I told you so." Read about him.Read all the campaign promises and changes he made in Massachusetts. He changed his position on abortion as he said to his Mormon friends ( of which my Mormon husband is one) that he gave the " woman the right to choose because it was what he needed to do in order to win the election." Even though the Mormon church is against abortion. He should be selling used cars! I grew up in Michigan. I know this man. I lived in Massachusetts. I know this man. Was I a Mormon convert? Yes. Did I leave them after I married a Mormon and found that they can say anything, do anything in order to get ahead?Yes. Vote for Mitt; don't vote for Mitt. Either the country stays the way it is for 4 more years or we usher in the red carpet and His Magesty sits on the dias under the cloth of gold and serves his own needs first and then his church. The poor will be crushed and the middle class will be left to grovel for a pittance from the king!
R Gibson
12:49 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012
Come on Kate, really? "King". Another Obama Campaign Social Media hack trolling websites to spread more misinformation. The Media suppressed item after item about Obama. The media bias against McCain and Romney is relentless. Do you really think that with the amount of scrutiny Romney is getting that these little details you speak of wouldn't have come out? Fine, maybe he didn’t succeed at doing all the things he promised in his campaign. As for Campaign promises let’s look at the devil we know. Has Obama balanced the budget? No, has Obama brought spending under control? No, has Obama gone over the budget line by line to stop government waste? No, has Obama closed Gitmo? No, has he gotten out of Afghanistan? No, has he brought a new atmosphere to Washington? No. What has he done, exploded our deficit by another 6 trillion dollars, added 15 million more people to food stamps, and enriched the Washington establishment so much so that now 7 of the 10 richest counties are in D.C. and Virginia. These are the truths, no political rhetoric. BTW learn to spell.
R Gibson
1:41 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012
Here are some facts. Upon the first breath they breath. every child born today, 9/20/2012, they have a debt burden of $50,000. Under Obama that burden has risen by $14,000 per person. The situation for women is even worse. The poverty rate for women is the highest it has been in 17 years. 5.5 million women are unable to find jobs. Unemployment for women is disproportionately higher than for men. It is insulting to women to suggest that the only issue important to them is a privileged 30 year old Georgetown Law student asking to have her birth control and abortions paid for. This should be about giving woman the same access to jobs that men have and equal pay for the same work. Boys we need to leave those decisions between a woman and her doctor, it is high time we get outta woman's uterus'.
akram yunas
4:08 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012
Gibson here are some more facts:
1. Obama has been in the office for 4 years. What has he taken from you wanna be Rich folks and re-distributed? NOTHING... FACT!
2. Market was at 6,400 when he took over from your beloved Republican Czar. It is close to 14000 today. FACT!
3. Our 401k were down to 50% of what they use to be when Obaman took over. The are UP 100% in the past four years. FACT!
4. In the 8 years of the Bush regime, the stocks had a total -25% return. FACT!
5. In the past 4 years under Obama, the stock returns are 95.6%. FACT!!!!!!
6. Under the Bush/Cheney regime, the job LOSSES were averaging 800,000 PER MONTH. FACT!
7. Under Obama, we have seen a 30 month STRAIGHT job GAIINS!!!!. FACT!!!!
If the next 4 years are going to mirror the past 4 years.... GIVE US 5 more terms of Obama! Is all I have to say.
Kate Aragon
4:28 pm on Thursday, September 20, 2012
Hi R Gibson, Well,I certainly appreciate that you found my typo on the word: rhetoric. Thank you for noticing that. As a typical Republican who gets their tidy-whities all tied up in a knot, and can't see beyond their nose, you should notice that in your message back to me you stated: "....7 or of 10 richest counties are in Washington,D.C. and Virginia..." You should have said, " 7 OUT OF 10 OF THE RICHEST COUNTIES IN THE COUNTRY ARE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AND VIRGINIA..." However,this journalist who is just having fun on her day off, has never made a comment on anything on these blog pages, really is laughing hard that you are so angry and upset that other Americans are using their Freedom of Speech. I guess it's just that you only want people to say what you believe. I sense some Mormonism here. If you aren't yet Mormon, then you should become one. The Mormons will love your loyalty and tunnel vision. BTW ( cute huh, I copied you:so sue me), I don't care for President Obama's policies. I would have LOVED to have Hillary as our leader. This from a college grad with 5 kids and I live in Northern Virginia. ( You would love all the Mormons here too!) I think I've had enough fun with this crap. Good luck with Mitt Sweetie!
R Gibson
8:30 am on Friday, September 21, 2012
Kate, thanks for pointing out my mistake. However, why you feel the need to SCREAM is beyond me. Now to free speech since you brought it up. How is anything I have said here, any different from what you have said? I have not tried to suppress your right to say what you believe. I may totally disagree with it, but what is wrong with have an intellectual exchange of ideas? However, one could argue, that mine is far respectful than yours. You denigrate the man’s religion; you castigate his beliefs. That is wrong. While I am not a Mormon, nor am I a Christian, or Jew or Muslim, we all have the right to practice what religion we choose, that is also a right, just like free speech. Frankly, I don’t understand you anti-Mormon rants. Now I have a question for you. You probably won’t respond, but why does a woman with 5 kids, who lives in Northern Virginia, feel compelled to comment on a story that ran locally on a Patch Website in Bloomfield Hills Michigan? Frankly, I don’t know that I believe much of your story. We have 2 kids and my wife, who works full time, she doesn’t have the time in her day to sit down and do nothing, let alone waste her time on the internet. So how does a woman with 5 kids find the time to read articles on an obscure local community website, 500 miles from where they live? Forgive me, but this all seems a little strange. Clearly, you are with the Obama campaign or MoveOn.org.
Kate Aragon
9:03 am on Friday, September 21, 2012
Hi R Gibson, This is my very last post---ever---on any blog! I am so sorry that you feel I screamed at you. I just wanted you to see your typos as clearly as you were able to see mine. Also, you have typos on at least one of your replies to Akram. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Now, I am not with the Obama folks. I am a journalist: born and raised in Michigan where my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends still reside. I live here for my career. Yes,I do have 5 kids: 4 girls and 1 boy. I am also Caucasian. I have already stated that I am not a fan of Obama. I wanted Hillary Clinton to be the the next president. I have time to read this because yesterday I was at home on my day off. I am just leaving for work right now. I saw the video on Mitt and decided to make a post. It's a free country---at least for now. I guess we could all ask you how a man has time to post all of these comments. I really don't care if you believe who I am or not. It is the truth. I will not be responding to your comments any longer. This is such a waste of time. Good luck with the next 4 years.
R Gibson
6:55 pm on Sunday, September 23, 2012
Well you probably won't respond, but you asked. I live in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In fact, I was born and raised here. The Bloomfield Patch is our local news website. Generally speaking almost all the items posted are here are of local interest. As you may notice we discuss a lot of local topics, our schools, our police, etc. So I simply wondered why you would be interested in something that is posted on a website 500 miles from where you live. That’s all. Sorry this sound cruel, but I could care less what is going on in your local community. So maybe you can understand why I might take into question your motives here. If you don’t work for the Obama Campaign, MoveOn.org, or some other political organization trying to further you candidates’ views or position then I ask for your forgiveness. My desire is to see an honest exchange of ideas, you and I may not agree, but I respect your right to have them. What can’t stomach is either campaign using their hired thugs for social media mining to spread their propaganda about the other candidate under the pretense of being a local citizen. Lastly, the color of your skin, at least for me, has absolutely no relevance.
E B
1:57 pm on Friday, September 21, 2012
This blog, as many others, is so typical of our situation. It clearly reflects the division in our country. Even more telling is the way the question of this poll is formulated. There is nothing that Mitt Romney has to rebound from, other than the lies of the leftist media!
akram yunas
1:13 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012
Thanks EB for knocking the polls and being so concerned about the division we find ourselves in today and THEN calling out the LIBERAL LEFTIST MEDIA, as the reason for all our ills.
BTW, Google "Fox News" under fair and balanced.... you will be amazed as to what you will find there.