Inequality for All
Robert Reich is starring in a new documentary called Inequality for All. (I wonder if I can get a screening here in Asheville???)
What if Rape Is a Campaign Strategy? (Updated)
What if Rape Is a Campaign Strategy?
I’m just wondering if the Republican Party has decided that outrageous comments about rape is politically advantageous. The comments we are currently seeing cannot be spontaneous. They’re not being made by some country bumpkin running for city dogcatcher. Instead, these are serious candidates running for major offices (both Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock are running for US Senate in their respective states). Both of these guys have put in a lot of time. Both of these candidates have raised a lot of money. Both these candidates have been on the national stage with major political backing from the RNC.
Mourdock said, “I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from god. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
Maybe there’s some polling hidden deep in some Republican’s file cabinet (Karl Rove) that suggests talking about rape in religious terms galvanizes evangelicals more than it repulses liberals and moderates. I don’t know. What I do know is that most of the things that are being said at the level of a U.S. Senate candidate is incredibly scripted. There are almost no spontaneous moments. Candidates are very cautious of what they say and how they say it. (Remember George Allen??) A misplaced statement here or there can mean disaster.
The main problem with Mourdock’s statement is that it is really the mainstream Republican position. Here’s what Jon Stewart has to said on the subject.
No more tax returns
Ann Romney has clearly told us – no more tax returns. None. Why, you might ask? Because we, the Romney’s, have been attacked. Psst, Ms. Romney… did you not understand that this is American politics?? Did you not see what GWB did to John McCain?? Ms. Romney, did you not see what happened to Valerie Plame? Ms. Romney went on – Mitt Romney is a good, decent saint of a man. He pays his taxes. His wife says so. That should the end of the story. Remember, the wife of Dominique Strauss Kahn stood behind him after his sexual assault charges (it was only after the second or third round of charges that she began to distance herself. Oh, she actually is legally separated.) So, in my opinion, it is foolish and crazy to take the word of a nominee’s wife. Instead, Mitt Romney needs to prove to us that he is in fact a good, decent man as his wife suggests. As a matter of fact, I think it is time for us to pull out that old Ronald Reagan line – Trust, but verify.