Unions Vow to Fight Back Over Michigan Right-to-Work Law

source: tumblr


Governor Snyder showed his true colors today: He’s a puppet of extreme donors, and he is willing to ignore and lie to his constituents. His action will undoubtedly please the Koch Brothers and corporate CEOs, but it will diminish the voice of every working man and woman in Michigan.
~ AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka

For millions of Michigan workers, this is no ordinary debate. It’s an assault on their right to have their elected bargaining agent negotiate their pay, benefits, and working conditions, and to have all who benefit from such negotiations share in some way in the cost of obtaining them.
~ Senator Carl Levin, D-MI

I’ve never said unions are bad for business and I don’t think this is anti-union, I think it’s pro-worker.
~ Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on Morning Joe

Are you serious? Are you serious? This is not anti-union? . . . This at its core undermines the ability of unions to collectively bargain.
~ MSNBC's Richard Wolffe on Morning Joe, in response to Gov. Snyder



These so called right-to-work laws, they don’t have to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.
~ President Obama while touring a car factory in Michigan



The fact (is) that these Republicans did this when a number of them were defeated last month, and they know that the new Legislature is coming in on January 1st, they're coming in with enough Democrats and enough moderate "sane" Republicans who have a majority and who would defeat this - would never even propose it. And they think they can get away with this. They think they can go against the will of the people. People spoke five weeks ago and now they think they can just say 'to hell with you, we're going to do this.' We're going to undo 70 years of labor history.
~ Michael Moore to Ex-Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm on Current TV


I mean, the phrase "right-to-work" is such a positive and uplifting message. What could it possibly do to organizations like unions that also support workers' rights? I mean, the law probably strengthens unions.... Or destroys the only leverage unions have to stay afloat. One or the other. So it's really a right-to-work-around-the-union for the corporation. It's one of those things that are actually named for the opposite of the thing they do.
Like strip bars call themselves gentlemen's clubs. They're not. Or the TV network dedicated to making us stupider is called The Learning Channel. Or a TV show that only airs 4 days a week calls itself a Daily Show. (audience cheering)
What's the deal, Governor Snyder?
~ Jon Stewart on The Daily Show

Snyder's logic is embarrassingly simplistic
. . . it seems that Rick Snyder has decided to ignore his business roots, which require a thorough analysis of data, and insist on masquerading this legislation as a “choice” for Michigan workers. This means the governor must acknowledge that allowing 85 politicians in a lame duck session to decide this issue for an entire state is not an example of giving people a choice. If Rick Snyder and Republicans truly care about choice, then they should use the democratic process and put “right to work” on the ballot, letting the people choose at the polls.
~ Dale Hanson on The Detroit News

After spending years telling us that ‘right to work for less’ legislation was off the table, Gov. Snyder has created an embarrassing national spectacle by doing a full flip-flop on this issue. Perhaps most disturbing of all, Gov. Snyder and his right-wing allies used every trick in the book to prevent the people from being able to hold a referendum vote on this issue.
~ Representative Gary Peters, D-MI

As Michigan’s economy is recovering, we need to work together to build a stronger economy, not tear our state apart with divisive political issues. By passing this so-called ‘right to work’ bill, Michigan is taking a major step backward. It will mean lower wages and fewer benefits for every worker, and a poisoned political environment.
~ Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-MI

A handful of billionaire oligarchs are pouring money into states. Adelson has just said that he intends to fund anti-union initiatives at the state and local levels. And that's what we're facing. It's an attack upon the middle class. But we're going to be ready for it in Ohio and I believe a sleeping giant has been awakened. And I think the people of Michigan will bring back the union ability. But temporarily, a setback. But our eyes are open, we know the threat. And we're going to be ready for it.
. . . This Michigan Governor is intellectually dishonest. He's not speaking the truth. This is an attack upon Organized Labor. It's an attack on the Middle Class. And he's doing this at the behest of the Tea Party elements within his party. He absolutely was dishonest with the people of Michigan. He said this was not a part of his political priority.
~ Ted Strickland, ex-governor of Ohio, on MSNBC's The Ed Show

It's interesting, this freedom, and this "choice." You know, if the Governor and others who are for this believe really in this kind of freedom and choice in a democracy, then why don't they make taxes voluntary? Because the reality is, that's what union dues are. The majority has voted for a Union, and the majority rules in a democracy. Just like the majority voted for Rick Snyder. I might not agree with his policies as Governor, but I don't have a choice to hold back on my taxes.
. . . The idea that you get all the benefits of the union membership, and you don't have to pay your dues, and the union has to "earn" the support is a bunch of nonsense. The majority in those shops have spoken. 51% have wanted a union and if you don't like it you can take your business elsewhere. We're only 17% union (in Michigan).
. . . It's both a shot in the gut and a call to action, and I believe sometimes it takes both. It takes a slap in the face, a shot in the gut, and kick in the shins to get people motivated. And we ARE motivated and fired up.
. . . It's definitely a motivation for 2014.
~ Virg Bergero, Mayor of Lansing, Michigan, on MSNBC's The Ed Show

The big picture is that they're after the Rust Belt. If they can break the backs of the unions and their infrastructure over funding, and if they can pass laws so that people don't have to pay dues, this of course is going to break the backs of the Democrats in those states.
~ Ed Schultz on MSNBC's The Ed Show

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CNN's Jim Acosta - Dog Equals Dog Whistle?

via gifsfln.tumblr

Blogger's Note: To question whether President Obama is a citizen of the United States is to spread a vicious lie believed mainly by crackpots and cuckoos. Obama was born in Hawaii which is one of the 50 states ~ we all learn that in 3rd grade ~ and his REAL birth certificate is on record - even the State of Arizona finally admitted that (except for Sheriff Joe Arpaio). The President's mother was an American citizen from Kansas, so even if he hadn't been born here, he would still be an American. Period. Just as we presume that even though Mitt Romney's father was born in Mexico, he was still an American because one or both of his parents were Americans.

The story about Mitt Romney's Dog Seamus riding on the roof of the family's station wagon was a story Mitt Romney freely chose to tell on himself because at one time he strangely thought it was funny. The story came from the candidate, and not from some outside source. The reason it went viral is because (A) it sounds like dog abuse and (B) it begs the question of whether Mitt Romney has good judgment, since he's running for President. At the worst it is really really stupid, and most sensible people wouldn't admit that they would treat their dog that way.

Strapping a Dog to the Roof ~ Stupid by choice
Being African American ~ Definitely not Stupid, and not a choice


The dog story is TRUE, while tales of Obama being foreign are FALSE. 
Truth does not equal a Lie.

Racism is not Funny just because Mitt snickers and the Tea Party crowd giggles.
Making fun of the way Mitt Romney treats his dog is not the same as Romney attacking Obama's race or citizenship.
Anyone in the media who believes that is an Idiot!
That is all . . . (Do I seem ticked off?  You betcha - Stop the Stupidity!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital, I was born in Harper Hospital. No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.
~ Mitt Romney speaking to a home crowd in Michigan, comparing his origins and skin color to Barack Obama's, and possibly forgetting that the President's mother was as white as Ann Romney

My read:Romney shows he can take the dog on roof stuff and dish it back.
— Jim Acosta (@jimacostacnn) August 24, 2012

Tommy Christopher on Mediaite

Minutes later, Acosta, who is covering the Romney campaign for CNN, tweeted “My read: Romney shows he can take the dog on roof stuff and dish it back,” which is a bit like saying “My read: Hannibal Lecter shows that he can take the census stuff, and dish it back. With fava beans and Chianti.”

He followed that up by opining that “Isaac may be miles away. But Romney bringing the thunder today.”

Acosta also retweeted another user who noted that “Obama makes birther jokes, too,” to which Acosta added “Mugs too,” mugs, it should be noted, whose purpose was to mock the birther racists, not the President’s origin. Acosta’s observation is akin to saying that arsonists aren’t so different from firemen, since they both work with fire.

Two problems with that theory, Mr. Acosta.
The most obvious is, Romney actually DID leave his dog on the roof of his car during a 12 hour drive. Obama was born here, and has provided proof repeatedly.
The second problem is, the only people who believe the birther nonsense are racists, who use the manufactured controversy to insinuate that the black Obama is less than a "legitimate" American. And frankly, what is Romney implying with the "joke," anyway, except that he's more "legitimate" than President Obama?
What is CNN becoming?
~ Milt Shook on Sulia.com

Mitt Romney Reduced to Pointing Out His Whiteness to Voters
. . . The "dog on roof" stuff is jokes about something that Mitt Romney actually did. The birther stuff is made-up paranoid racist conspiracy theories attacking the very legitimacy of Obama's presidency. They are not the same "stuff." And anyway: Donald Trump and Sheriff Joe Arpaio — avowed birthers, both of them — are speaking at the Republican national convention next week. Neither Gail Collins nor Seamus the dog have been invited to give addresses to the DNC, to the best of my knowledge.
~ Max Read on Gawker

Acosta, who’s “embedded” with the Romney camp and is part of the Worst Political Team on Television, fired off a tweet that read: “My read: Romney shows he can take the dog on roof stuff and dish it back.” Really? That’s “your read” — that Mitt Romney can return fire on his political opponents bringing up a 100% true story from his past by making a crack that references something that’s just as thoroughly not true? That’s what you got out of that? In that case, you’re a hack, Acosta, who shouldn’t be reporting on the student council race at Millard Fillmore Middle School, much less a presidential campaign.
Acosta’s really dumb tweet, which amounts to advocacy for the guy he’s likely been saddled with for months, shows the dangers of sticking one person with one campaign and leaving him or her there for almost the length of the contest. What happens is the correspondent turns into either a grade-A ass-kisser, given that there’s sometimes no way around becoming chummy with the people you see day-in-day-out, or, if the camp is purposely unresponsive to the wants and needs of the journalists covering it, he or she becomes a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. Either way, it taints the coverage — and it’s bad not only for journalism but for the country.
~ Chez Pazienza on The Daily Banter

Transcript, Martin Bashir

Ari Melber, The Nation: It fries the circuit of the objective press and the D.C. press that only wants to keep score because they have to find something that Democrats have done that's as bad. But they don't have an echo repetitive racist argument coming from the Democratic Party . So they say, well, you made dog jokes, or the President's been negative, or the Democrats are spending a lot of money attacking Mitt Romney .

Martin Bashir: It's false equivalency.

Ari Melber: It's a false equvalency. And that's another big problem. This is not a place where the jokes are equal. This is not a place where the type of attacks are equal And I think it's very hard for a lot of the scorekeepers in D.C. to handle that. They don't know what to do with that.

.@jimacostacnn Birther = dog on the roof?
— Danny Kanner (@DannyKanner) August 24, 2012

@jimacostacnn @cnnsitroom uh huh. well your black viewers do not respect a reporter who compares racists jokes to dogs on roof.
— AAmom (@AVD911) August 24, 2012

.@jimacostacnn Dear Stupid Employee of Stupid TeaNN: Romney's dog torture is the TRUTH. Birtherism is a LIE. No equivalence, Stupid.
— allanbrauer (@allanbrauer) August 24, 2012

Birtherism is racism & he knows it. CNN shows how ineffective theirreporters are- false equivalency dog v racism?? mediaite.com/online/cnn-rep…
— Susanna (@SusannaMatte) August 24, 2012

How does @cnn not suspend Jim Acosta for his ridiculous tweet today re Romney #birther comment?!api.twitter.com/oauth/authoriz…
— Tal J Zlotnitsky (@TJsMind) August 24, 2012

Romney's birther joke is retribution for Obama's dog on car material... Only problem: one of those jokes is born from hate/racism
— Ed Schultz (@edshow) August 24, 2012

Romney Goes Full-On Birther ~ Updated

Speaking about his Michigan roots, he said, "No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised." The joke was received with hearty applause by the audience. . . . ~ Mitt Romney, speaking in Michigan





"Throughout this campaign, Governor Romney has embraced the most strident voices in his party instead of standing up to them. It's one thing to give the stage in Tampa to Donald Trump, Sheriff Arpaio, and Kris Kobach. But Governor Romney's decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America.
~ Obama spokesman, Ben LaBolt

 Romney was "only referencing that Michigan, where he is campaigning today, is the state where he himself was born and raised.
~ Romney spokesman, Kevin Madden


LIMBAUGH: Right on, right on, right on.
~ Rush Limbaugh on his Radio Show, via Media Matters

Our take: Gov. Romney’s decision to directly enlist himself in the birther movement should give pause to any rational voter across America.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 24, 2012

Song of the day: Born in the U.S.A. OFA.BO/irL3ZV
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 24, 2012

7 birthers speaking at the Republican convention thkpr.gs/Of6Ywy

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) August 24, 2012

Romney just dropped a birther line. Note: His dad was born in Mexico, ran for President of the United States.
— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) August 24, 2012

To be clear: Mitt Romney's Birther line was NOT a joke. He was saying he's more of an American than President Obama.
— Don Millard (@OTOOLEFAN) August 24, 2012

Rush Limbaugh loved Mitt Romney's birther joke. That's like John Wayne Gacy raving about one of your clown paintings.
— Frank Conniff (@FrankConniff) August 24, 2012

Pro tip for the equivalency crowd: The difference bt the Seamus story and birther stories is that birther stories are false.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) August 24, 2012

Frankly I'm surprised Mitt made a birther joke yesterday; I thought he already had the racist idiot vote sewn up.
— Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) August 25, 2012

Dana Loesch wants "you people" to "stop being all uptight" about a presidential candidate making birther jokes bit.ly/QaBZDq
— Media Matters (@mmfa) August 25, 2012

Romney's Birther Joke Explained in One Number: He Needs 61% of the White Vote theatln.tc/OdDfAx
— The Atlantic Wire (@TheAtlanticWire) August 24, 2012

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Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A man born of Mexican polygamists should not throw stones.
~ comment by Mitzymoon on Politico

Myth Dumbney, we know that you're white. We also know that you're a Racist and a Birther. 'Congratulations' for representing hate and evil. Now, let's see how that wins you this election.
~ comment by kishman on Politico

"No one asked to see my birth certificate" That is precisely the point now isn't it? No one ever asked to see your birth certificate, but 3 1/2 years later, long form, short form birth certificate later. Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, Joe Arpaio and the rest of the Ku Klux Klan is still hounding President Obama about his. Nice One Mitt.
~ comment by D. Shy on Politico

This wasn't a surrogate, or a SUPERPAC, this was Romney doing this. His party has become the party of uneducated, racist, the earth is flat believers and he can't seem to rise above. The guy lacks character and a spine. The media and the black caucus need to stand up to this nonsense. There is a big difference between surrogates and superpacs and the candidate himself. All Romney has done is whine and ask for apologies this entire campaign and yet he is playing up to the most racist side of his party. It begs the question..WHY hasn't Romney been dogged about HIS birth certificate since his father was born in Mexico, his ancestors polygamists?? Because he's not black.
~ comment by SallyC2 on Politico

“Ha ha,” this joke says. “The President is an exotic specimen! I am not! I was born at Harper Hospital! I am like you! You don’t ask a white man in a button-down with a name like Willard where he was born! Ha ha!”
~ Alexandra Petri in Washington Post

Team Romney has a list of code words/phrases that get the base excited. 'Birth certificate' is one of them. Others include 'Chicago,' 'Muslim,' 'welfare,' 'Europe,' 'socialism,' 'community organizer,' and 'regulations.' Both Romney and Ryan are scripted to use at least one per campaign appearance.
~ comment by MsJS on Washington Post

Born and raised in Michigan yet soon to be summarily rejected by its voters. That must hurt.
~ comment by Poindexter718 on Wonkette

All the black person in Romney's audience walked out in protest.
 ~ comment by ChernobylSoup on Wonkette

Should read: "Romney Births Cracker Joke."
~ comment by dmnolan on Wonkette

Michigan: Where the trees are the right height and the whites are privileged!
 ~ comment by Maman on Wonkette

Now we know what the trees are the right height for.
~ comment by Mittens Howell III on Wonkette





Hurricane Issac threatens the Republican National Convention in Tampa. You can't burn crosses in the rain.
~ comment by Ralph B. on Huffington Post

Mitt went on to say that he won't reveal whether he is the actual Antichrist until after the election...
~ comment by catboycolo on Huffington Post

One of the worst presidential campaigns I have ever seen! And can you imagine what is going to come out during the circus next week with the likes of Trump and Arpaio!
~ comment by bdwife81 on Huff Post

The crowd loved it when the lions ate the Christians, too. I don't think that's a very reasonable rejoinder, do you, Mitt?
Do you want a list of all the things "the crowd loved" that were immoral and_horrific?
~ comment by NickRofilia on Huff Post

While Mr. Romney appeases the fringe elements of his base with sub-textural r_@ci-zum...
He's loosing the Black vote...
The Hispanic vote..
The Jewish vote...
The Female vote..
The LGBT vote..
etc, etc......
~ comment by 2 far-gone on Huff Post

Just wait until he says he admired early 1940s German efficiency.
~ comment by The Mask on Huff Post

Trump: "Watch me pull a birth certificate out of my hat".
(Uproarious laughter)
"There's nothing in here! Where was this hat made? Kenya?"
(Wild applause as the hurricane collapses the ceiling.)
~ comment by Nazztea on Huff Post

Dear Mitt Romney, if you run racist ads & tell birther jokes you do NOT get to accuse anyone else of running a negative campaign.

— Path2Enlightenment (@Path2Enlighten) August 24, 2012

Question of the Day: Was Mitt Romney ALWAYS such a racist?

— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) August 25, 2012

Shorter Mitt strategy: You white people might hate me for my vulture outsourcing of jobs & tax avoidance, but I'm a racist...so vote for me!

— Steve Weinstein (@steveweinstein) August 25, 2012

Don't worry about the birther line, Mitt Romney is no more racist than any other post-middle age Mormon. Mwahahahaha!

— Ƒɩƪţħƴ Ƿɑɀųɀų (@FilthyPazuzu) August 25, 2012

A week before the RNC and Mitt Romney is spending his time still making birtherjokes, appealing to his fearmongering, racist base. Cool

— Kenny Ng (@kennethjng) August 25, 2012

Mitt Romney doesn't remember going racist #birther today, much like he doesn't remember holding a student down to cut his hair... #class

— Sarah Reese Jones (@srjones66) August 24, 2012

Not content with blowing the #birther dog whistle, Mitt Romney will hire Orly Taitz as his campaign legal advisor. #edshow

— scary lawyerguy (@scarylawyerguy) August 25, 2012

Somewhere the professional train wreck known as Orly Taitz just danced a twisted little jig. bit.ly/PhcQCN

— Arik Hesseldahl (@ahess247) August 24, 2012

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter Resigns Via Word Salad

New York Times Story

Mr. McCotter was running for re-election in a race that didn’t seem to be much of a contest, especially since he has carried the district since 2003. But his front-runner status quickly evaporated after 1,563 of the 1,830 signatures he turned in to get his name on the primary ballot were found to be fraudulent. Only 1,000 were required.
Longtime Michigan elections officials called the level of fraud “unheard-of,” and the state attorney general’s office announced a criminal investigation into the petitions.
. . . Mr. McCotter’s resignation has left his party without an obvious candidate in a Congressional district that would otherwise have been a Republican stronghold. One G.O.P. candidate who will be on the ballot for the Aug. 7 primary is Kerry Bentivolio, who, according to his official biography, raises reindeer “trained to pull Santa’s sleigh.”

From the Detroit News

As U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter's short-lived presidential run fizzled last year, the Livonia Republican turned to another aspiration: writing a TV show.
"Bumper Sticker: Made On Motown" starred McCotter hosting a crude variety show cast with characters bearing the nicknames of his congressional staffers, his brother and a drunk, perverted "Black Santa." They take pot shots about McCotter's ill-fated bid for the White House while spewing banter about drinking, sex, race, flatulence, puking and women's anatomy. It features a cartoon intro and closing snippet with an Oldsmobile careening through Detroit and knocking over the city's landmarks. The double-finned car has a Michigan license plate reading: "Made on MoTown."

The News obtained a copy of the script from a former staffer
McCotter told The News the work was unfinished and was given to a reporter without his permission. He said the show was a "cathartic" creative outlet that helped him through the humiliation of the presidential campaign flop.

McCotter maintains he didn't write the show on the taxpayers' time: "Most of my writing is done in my garage … where I can smoke."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Complete Resignation Statement Via Huffington Post

"Today I have resigned from the office of United States Representative for Michigan's 11th Congressional District.

After nearly 26 years in elected office, this past nightmarish month and a half have, for the first time, severed the necessary harmony between the needs of my constituency and of my family. As this harmony is required to serve, its absence requires I leave.

The recent event's totality of calumnies, indignities and deceits have weighed most heavily upon my family. Thus, acutely aware one cannot rebuild their hearth of home amongst the ruins of their U.S. House office, for the sake of my loved ones I must "strike another match, go start anew" by embracing the promotion back from public servant to sovereign citizen.

I do not leave for an existing job and face diminishing prospects (and am both unwilling and ill-suited to lobby), my priorities are twofold: find gainful employment to help provide for my family; and continue to assist, in any way they see fit, the Michigan Attorney General's earnest and thorough investigation, which I requested, into the 2012 petition filing.

While our family takes this step into the rest of our lives, we do so with the ultimate confidence in our country's future. True, as at other times in the life of our nation, we live in an Age of Extremes that prizes intensity over sanity; rhetoric over reality; and destruction over creation. But this too shall pass, thanks to the infinite, inspired wisdom of the sovereign people who, with God's continued blessings, will again affirm for the generations American Exceptionalism.

Truly, it is a challenging and fortunate time to live in our blessed sanctuary of liberty.

In closing, to The People of Michigan's 11th Congressional District, I can but say this: Thank you for the privilege of having worked for you

~ Thaddeus G. McCotter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fun fact: 80% of signatures submitted by GOP's Thaddeus McCotter to get on GOP primary ballot were fake or duplicates. #p2 #tcot
— Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) July 6, 2012

To everyone who said Thaddeus McCotter's amazing resignation sentence couldn't be diagrammed --> #willpower maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/…
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) July 7, 2012

Thad McCotter quoted "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" in his resignation statement. Much respect. ow.ly/c4uIw
— The Fix (@TheFix) July 6, 2012

Just when you think this story is out of amazing things, you get to the last bit, abt reindeer-man (via @jim_newell ) nyti.ms/KZ9wcN

— Josh Fruhlinger (@jfruh) July 7, 2012

Thad McCotter Interrupts Tragicomic Midlife Crisis To Conquer Hollywood With Terrible Teevee Pilot bit.ly/OuzuJZ

— Wonkette (@Wonkette) July 5, 2012

This is what Thad McCotter was up to instead of, you know, properly filing his re-election forms. bit.ly/OttJfq

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) July 5, 2012

The Thaddeus McCotter Statement re His Immediate Exit from Congress... I had no idea folks still talked like that nyti.ms/RvNYJs

— Burns Strider (@BStrider) July 7, 2012

G.O.P. candidate Kerry Bentivolio raises reindeer “trained to pull Santa’s sleigh.” thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/mcc…

— Christopher Cadelago (@ccadelago) July 7, 2012

Congressman thinks he can be a screenwriter after THAT farewell? McCotter's a goner reut.rs/M9Q7GO #GOP

— Margot Roosevelt (@margotroosevelt) July 7, 2012

Thaddeus McCotter's Weird Goodbye and Ode to Sovereign Citizens politicususa.com/thaddeus-mccot… via @politicususa

— Steve Wallace (@Stwallace23) July 7, 2012

When all is known, I suspect that Cong. McCotter's epic resignation letter will be more far impressive than the underlying cause.

— Josh Elliott (@elliottjosh) July 7, 2012

#RepublicanSongs Na, na, na, na.Hey, hey!Goodbye #McCotter huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/06/tha…

— Erik Shelley (@EWShelley) July 7, 2012

Mitt Romney the Police Impersonator

Story from The National Memo:

Madden, a native Texan who graduated from Stanford in 1970 and went on to become a successful television producer and writer, has never forgotten that strange moment, which he has recounted to friends over the years as he observed his former classmate’s political ascent. The National Memo learned of the incident from a longtime Madden friend to whom he had mentioned it years ago.

Said Madden in a recent interview, “He told us that he had gotten the uniform from his father,” George Romney, then the Governor of Michigan, whose security detail was staffed by uniformed troopers. “He told us that he was using it to pull over drivers on the road. He also had a red flashing light that he would attach to the top of his white Rambler.”

In Madden’s recollection, confirmed by his wife Susan, who also attended Stanford during those years, “we thought it was all pretty weird. We all thought, ‘Wow, that’s pretty creepy.’ And after that, we didn’t have much interaction with him,” although both Madden and Romney were prep school boys living in the same dorm, called Rinconada.

Other eyewitnesses have previously recalled Romney’s alleged use of a police or trooper uniform in pranks during his high school years at the exclusive Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Phillip Maxwell, a prep school buddy, told the New Republic in 2008 that Romney had pulled over students from a girls school next door to Cranbrook while wearing a police uniform as a prank. Other former classmates described Mitt as a “happy-go-lucky guy known less for his achievements and more for his pranks.”

In The Real Romney, a biography published by Boston Globe reporters Michael Kranish and Scott Helman this year, another former friend recalled how Romney had “put a siren on top of his car and chased two of his friends who were driving around with their dates.” The two friends were in on the scheme, but the girls were not. There was beer in the car trunk, according to a prearranged plan. Mitt told his two counterparts to get out of their vehicle and into his car. Then they drove off, leaving the girls behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hundreds of thousands of men Mitt Romney ’s age got uniforms in those days the old fashioned way, by being drafted into military service. Mitt Romney avoided that with four consecutive draft deferments that he obtained that allowed him to, like his father before him and his sons after him, avoid combat in the war of his era, the Vietnam War.
~ From Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC:


Impersonating a police officer was bad enough. He is now hoping to get the chance to impersonate a president. He should learn to do more than just impersonate a human first.
~ comment by Phal4875 on Huff Post

I'm betting ($10K) that it comes out and they dismiss it as a Halloween costume he had laying around.
comment by eXtina on Daily Kos

I've had doubts about Mitt Romney's mental health 4 a while. State Trooper Uniform story seals the deal. All about the power, power, power

— Sharon E (@Xaron4) June 7, 2012

Are the stories about Romney impersonating a state trooper true? One of the last things the USA needs is a cop wanna-be in the White House.

— AspenDew (@aspendew) June 7, 2012

BREAKING: Mitt Romney now claims his police uniform was from his tryout for "The Village People". #p2 #YMCA #fb

— Joseph J. Santorsa (@Marnus3) June 7, 2012

Mitt Romney is the first robot to dress as a police officer and not try to kill John Connor. on.cc.com/LB5199

— Indecision (@indecision) June 7, 2012

Police On My Back fdl.me/JQnsFr from @firedoglake Mitt Romney is not the Zodiac Killer no matter what you may have heard

— TBogg (@tbogg) June 7, 2012

Romney impersonating a police officer; this is spooky and disturbing! Not normal! thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/msnbc-romney-l… #WomenForObama #Obama2012

— Susie Que (@TheSusieQue) June 7, 2012

Here’s the problem. Romney impersonated a uniform police officer. That’s a crime.

— TheGreeper (@33Greeper) June 7, 2012

If Romney really drove around Detroit in a police uniform, pulling cars over in his Rambler, he belongs in da Big House, not the White House

— Memphis Foto (@sommarnatten) June 7, 2012

I guess what shocks me as much as anything is that Officer Romney drove a Ramblerbit.ly/Lfty54#Mitt2012 #p2 #tcot

— Blue DuPage (@BlueDuPage) June 7, 2012

Mitt Romney ~ Bully Boy of Cranbrook

Commentary on Mitt Romney's school days at Cranbrook, a posh prep school in Michigan, back when he was a wealthy white-privileged teenage bully who attacked people with scissors.

From the original Washington Post Story by Jason Horowitz:

John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye, and Romney wasn’t having it.

“He can’t look like that. That’s wrong. Just look at him!” an incensed Romney told Matthew Friedemann, his close friend in the Stevens Hall dorm, according to Friedemann’s recollection. Mitt, the teenage son of Michigan Gov. George Romney, kept complaining about Lauber’s look, Friedemann recalled.

A few days later, Friedemann entered Stevens Hall off the school’s collegiate quad to find Romney marching out of his own room ahead of a prep school posse shouting about their plan to cut Lauber’s hair. Friedemann followed them to a nearby room where they came upon Lauber, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.

And then there's this:

One venerable English teacher, Carl G. Wonn­berger, nicknamed “the Bat” for his diminished eyesight, was known to walk into the trophy case and apologize, step into wastepaper baskets and stare blindly as students slipped out the back of the room to smoke by the open windows.
. . . As an underclassman, Romney accompanied Wonnberger and Pierce Getsinger, another student, from the second floor of the main academic building to the library to retrieve a book the two boys needed. According to Getsinger, Romney opened a first set of doors for Wonnberger, but then at the next set, with other students around, he swept his hand forward, bidding the teacher into a closed door. Wonnberger walked right into it and Getsinger said Romney giggled hysterically as the teacher shrugged it off as another of life’s indignities.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m not going to be too concerned about their piece they talk about the fact that I played a lot of pranks in high school and they describe some that well you just say to yourself, back in high school well I did some dumb things and if anybody was hurt by that or offended obviously I apologize but overall high school years were a long time ago...
~ Mitt Romney, quoted by ABC News

I don’t remember that incident and I’ll tell you I certainly don’t believe that I, I can’t speak for other people of course, thought the fellow was homosexual. That was the furthest thing from my mind back in the 1960s, so that was not the case. But as to pranks that were played back then, I don’t remember them all, but again, high school days, if I did stupid things, why I’m afraid I got to say sorry for it.
~ Mitt Romney, quoted by the Washington Examiner




Yo, Romney, like Eminem said: “F*** Cranbrook.
~ Mother Jones Tumblr

On multiple occasions over the last year, Romney has shown a tendency to dodge, weave, parse or deny in such a way that it outweighs the original offense. It’s his weasel problem, a real character flaw.
. . . what Romney seems to be implying — that bullying of effeminate-seeming boys didn’t happen in prep schools in the 1960s — is preposterous.
~ Timothy Egan in a NYT's Op-Ed entitled Romney's Weasel Problem

I think it’s worth noting that the framing of the Post story—the suggestion that Romney and the others picked on this schoolmate because they thought he was gay—is anachronistic. In spring 1965 long hair was associated with surfers (the Beach Boys had their first national hit record in 1964) and the Beatles (who made their first U.S. appearance in January 1965). And hair length was a big issue in the 1960s. Men of the World War II generation, who had memories of military short haircuts, took umbrage when teenagers left their hair grow, and fathers would badger their sons to get haircuts.
~ Fellow Cranbrook Alumnus Michael Barone
 
The Post reported that the abused boy was ultimately expelled from Cranbrook—for smoking a cigarette. Really. The victim got expelled for smoking a cigarette, but Mitt faced no sanctions for maliciously victimizing a vulnerable student and a teacher. It's good to be a prince. Maybe that's why Romney felt entitled to take a $10 million bailout for Bain, but opposed President Obama's bailout of the auto industry. He thinks there's one set of rules for the privileged, and another for the rest of us.
~ Paul Begala on The Daily Beast

What I see is an opportunity for Mitt Romney to lead and really be an advocate for decreasing bullying. It’s sad to hear what occurred many years ago characterized as ‘pranks’ and ‘horsing around.’ We’re no longer conformable with the notion of describing bullying as ‘kids will be kids.’ This was a presidential moment, and this should be a teachable moment for him.
~ Lee Hirsch, the director of “Bully”, a new documentary that focuses on bullying in U.S. schools, in a phone interview with TPMemo

Imagine holding someone down on the ground against their will. Imagine raising scissors to their head because you didn’t like the style of their hair. Imagine cutting the hair while the boy or girl beneath you struggled to get free. Is she crying? Is he? Is this a moment you could forget? Once you had matured would you want to? In the best scenario, a lesson is learned and behavior changed; in the worst, the behavior is rationalized and outwardly forgotten, finding rest in the dark recesses of the soul.
~ Tim Durnin, Santa Barbara Noozhawk

The only shocking thing about the Romney bullying story is that at no point during the attack did he change his mind.

— Andy Borowitz (@BorowitzReport) May 11, 2012

Having learned about Romney's bullying past, I sense the wingnuts are liking him much more.

— Markos Moulitsas (@markos) May 11, 2012

Mitt Romney was a prep school bully. Which means he'd stuff you into a locker if you wore white pants after labor day.

— Denis Leary (@denisleary) May 11, 2012

So Mitt Romney's a homophobic, pet-abusing bully who destroys everything he touches. But does he have a negative side?

— Michael Kupperman (@MKupperman) May 16, 2012

The bullying Romney did 40 years ago is nothing compared to the painful wedgie he wants go give the entire country.

— Frank Conniff (@FrankConniff) May 10, 2012

I still think the word "bullying" diminishes the act.Harassment is what it is, or in Romney's Cranbrook incident, assault.

— Ray Y (@rmty) May 16, 2012