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Obama Super PAC Ad Blames Romney For Woman's Death

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In new Priorities USA Action ad, man tells story of his wife dying because she didn't have insurance after Bain-owned GST Steel laid him off.

Source: youtube.com


Two Reasons Why Tim Pawlenty Won't Be Mitt Romney's Running Mate

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Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is often mentioned as a shortlist candidate to be Mitt Romney's running mate. Two potential drawbacks: Pawlenty balanced Minnesota's budget by raising state fees — and in one 2002 clip said he will “outsource” to save the state government money.

Pawlenty in 2002: I'll use "outsourcing" to save the Minnesota government money.

Source: youtube.com

A 2006 "oppo" file PDF of all fees that increased under Tim Pawlenty. They add up to $893 million, according to a non-partisan study.

Via: senate.leg.state.mn.us

Nobody Had To Put Harry Reid Up To Anything

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High-profile surrogates are, as usual, totally out of control. Bad memories from the Clinton war room.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Capitol Hill.

Image by J. Scott Applewhite / AP

When the late Geraldine Ferraro remarked in March of 2008 that Barack Obama’s meteoric popularity owed in part to his skin color, it immediately ignited two very different narratives.

To the outside world, it was a clear example of the diabolical Clinton machine putting a highly decorated supporter — and member of its campaign’s finance committee — up to deliver a nasty smear.

To those of us actually in the Clinton war room, it was a cringe-inducing slur authorized by no one — and uttered by a person with whom few if any of us had ever spoken, who’d been out of office for more than two decades, and whose position on the finance committee, whatever that was, was ceremonial and perfunctory at best.

This set of alternate realities was called to mind for me when Harry Reid leveled his now-famous charge, in a wide-ranging interview with The Huffington Post, that Mitt Romney did not pay taxes for ten years. Naturally, many have assumed this had to be planned and coordinated by the Obama campaign -- CNN’s Candy Crowley spent nearly the first five minutes of her interview with Obama advisor Robert Gibbs on Sunday pressing him on the question, and press secretary Jay Carney was grilled by reporters on the same topic yesterday.

Both men denied any coordination with Reid.

And while their claim may seem hard to believe, here’s why it’s not as far-fetched as you think:

1. Campaigns don’t want to cede control of their message to others. In a campaign, controlling your message is everything. If you contract your attack out to another official and their team, you are trusting them not only to level the charge, but to handle -- by themselves and without incident — the onslaught of follow-up national and local press that could last several days.

While someone like Harry Reid may have a top-notch staff full of battle-tested veterans, they have not spent the entire year living the zero-tolerance, minute-to-minute cycles of the presidential campaign, interfacing with the jaded traveling press, batting down rumors that come every minute, and sustaining a message for weeks in a blood-thirsty, Twitter-dominated media climate. Just as importantly, as skilled as they are, they are not in-house and therefore can’t confer with the candidate’s headquarters before every utterance – which leaves the campaign having to place its faith in others on a very delicate topic.

That’s not how campaigns usually like to operate.

2. High-profile supporters say what they please. Believe me when I tell you, it’s not easy to tell prominent elected officials and leaders what to say – even if you wanted to. High-profile surrogates not only have minds of their own, but most are accustomed to being the big dog in his or her respective universe, and treated as though they're always right. The result? Campaigns end up with freelancers, who think they’re being helpful, by simply saying what’s on their mind.

Ferraro wasn’t the only surrogate who caused agita for the Clinton campaign. History buffs and masochists may also recall unauthorized remarks from supporters like Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s husband, Billy and BET’s Robert Johnson that observers were convinced were sanctioned by the campaign, but were anything but.

Having dealt with the incessant calls from the New York tabloids when these beauties hit the fan, I can assure you that these “helpful” comments by supporters are often unwanted and unsolicited. Having to answer whether the comments were authorized, whether their utterers would still get to be a member of whatever perfunctory “steering group” they sat on, and whether the campaign agreed with them, were not good days for a war room already trying to control several moving parts.

If you still need convincing that elected officials are not used to taking orders and being told what to say, remember <"http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/cory-booker-disagrees-obama-private-equity-16399837">Cory Booker’s private equity loving remarks from a few months ago and, more topically, the recent string of Republicans pressing Romney to release his taxes. The bottom line? Many high-profile politicians simply say what’s on their mind, and ask questions…. never.

So, while you’d think it’d be common practice for prominent supporters to talk with the campaign before they speak about the race, trust me, it’s not.

3. The Obama campaign has been willing to “own” its sharpest attacks. The sole motivation in secretly asking a supporter to level an attack for you, is that the campaign can get the benefit of the hit but still appear to have its hands clean. But keep in mind, the Obama campaign has been more than willing to “own” — i.e., openly embrace — some pretty hard shots fired at its opponent.

Remember when it suggested that Romney was either a liar or a criminal based on how he characterized his tenure at Bain on SEC forms? Or the TV ads they’ve been running to the dulcet sounds of Romney singing “America the Beautiful” while regaling us with a chronicle of his off-shore accounts and outsourcing records? This campaign is not trepidacious in owning the attacks it does originate.

What’s more, the Reid critique don’t seem much rougher than the ones the campaign owned. Reid’s office told me that, unlike the SEC example, the majority leader was not accusing Romney of breaking the law. So why would the campaign feel compelled to falsely disown this particular charge, rather than embrace it? Keep in mind that were they to own it, they could maintain control of the message, rather than place their faith in the senator and his team.

All of this is not to say, of course, that Obama’s team minds one bit what the Senate Majority Leader is doing. In fact, I’m sure they’re thrilled with it.

But did they put him up to it? While only a small number of people know for sure, put it this way: When it comes to surrogate attacks, coordination is happening far less often than you’d think.

Blake Zeff, a former presidential campaign aide to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and former aide to Senator Chuck Schumer and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, is a BuzzFeed contributor. You can follow him on Twitter at @BlakeZeff.

Obama Voiced Opposition To Clinton Welfare Plan As State Senator

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A new ad from the Romney campaign hits President Obama for changes to the Clinton welfare reform law. As a state senator in Chicago, Obama often voiced opposition to the bill.

Obama in 1998: I was not a huge fan of Clinton welfare reform.

Source: youtube.com

Obama in 1998: I probably would have voted against Clinton's welfare reform plan.

Source: youtube.com

Obama in 1999: I did not support Clinton's welfare reform plan.

Source: youtube.com

Obama reversed course in 2008: An ad touts moving people from welfare to work to learn the "dignity that comes from work."

Source: youtube.com


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Flashback: Azerbaijani Press Kept Away From Top Obama Adviser

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Controversial host tied to authoritarian regime prompted David Plouffe to return speaking fee.

White House adviser David Plouffe is facing scrutiny amid reports that he took a $100,000 speaking fee from a firm with ties to the Iranian government, but that is not the first time a speech has put President Barack Obama's former campaign manager in hot water.

In 2009, weeks after Obama took the oath of office, Plouffe gave a speech in Baku, Azerbaijan to the Association for Development of Civil Society in Azerbaijan at Gerb University. Reports at the time claimed the organization was a mouthpiece for Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev — who leads the country's authoritarian government.

Plouffe donated his speaking fee to pro-Democracy groups amid a media firestorm, but not before dodging reporters on the ground.

Radio Free Europe reported that press were kept away from Plouffe, whose response to questions about human rights issues was this:

"I'm here as a private citizen, so all I'm doing is talking about elections, and the Internet and democracy, and to talk about our [U.S.] election, and how great it was that so many people participated in it, and that's a lesson I think people can learn."

People On Twitter Who Are Thinking About Killing The President

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Threatening the President is a federal crime. Twitter guy @a_girl_irl unearthed these alarming statements.

This is a terrible idea for, obviously, any number of reasons. It should also at this point not be news to anyone that you can be arrested IRL for making insane threats on Twitter.

Rob Portman Was Registered Foreign Agent For Haitian Dictator

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According to Senator Rob Portman's 1985 foreign agent registration form , while working as a lobbyist at the firm Patton, Boggs, and Blow, Portman was a registered foreign agent on the behalf of the Republic of Haiti. In 1985 Haiti was ruled by the notorious Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, who was overthrown by a uprising in 1986. Update In June, Portman's staff provided ABC News a 2005 signed affidavit from the Democratic managing partner of Patton Boggs, that says Portman did not represent foreign entities during his time at the lobbying firm in the 1980s.

21 Animals That Support President Obama

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All of these pets support the Obama-Biden ticket in the 2012 presidential election. They're definitely the cutest campaigners that I've seen.

These dogs believe that re-electing Obama is their only hope for repealing DOMA.

Source: sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net  /  via: facebook.com

This fish is a strong proponent of environmental protection.

Source: sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net  /  via: facebook.com

This dog gives up his weekends to canvass for the Obama-Biden ticket.

Source: sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net  /  via: facebook.com

This cockatiel has learned to say "OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT!" and "Hello, I'm a pretty bird."

Source: sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net  /  via: facebook.com


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Nine Things You Didn’t Know About The Obamas

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I've been covering the Obamas for five years for the New York Times , watching their transformation from promising Chicago couple to President and First Lady of the United States. Here are a few surprising things I learned about them, from my book “The Obamas,” out in paperback this week.

Michelle Obama considered delaying her move to the White House

Michelle Obama considered delaying her move to the White House

By Election Day 2008, she was quietly contemplating sitting out the school year in Chicago with her daughters and moving over the summer. In retrospect, this shows just how new she was to the presidency: there’s no way the nation would have approved of a commuter First Lady. But her apprehension was also understandable, because living in the world’s most famous house-museum-military complex with two young kids is far more challenging than it looks.

Image by Jason Reed / Reuters

The president has a sly sense of humor about race

The president has a sly sense of humor about race

Obama does not dare joke about race now — too sensitive. That wasn’t always
the case. As a Senate candidate, he was once playing hooky from meeting with donors when a white aide named Peter Coffey finally tracked him down at the barbershop. A few hours later, the candidate returned to the office. “The relationship between a black man and his barber is sacred,” Obama mock-bellowed at Coffey. “They are closer than man and wife. For failing to understand this truth, your punishment is to watch the movie Barbershop. And for further punishment, you will then watch the sequel, Barbershop 2.”

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

When you&rsquo;re president, you can&rsquo;t really go home again.

When you’re president, you can’t really go home again.

Obama began his term thinking he would take his family back to Chicago to recharge every couple of weeks. But their first trip in February 2009 was more invasion of Normandy than weekend getaway. The Secret Service dropped black curtains down the sides of their home and they tied up traffic in Chicago. “We live in the White House now,” Michelle Obama told staff upon returning to Washington. Their trips home have been sporadic since.

Image by Jason Reed / Reuters

The dinner rule

The dinner rule

The White House is the first place the Obama family has ever lived together full time. Before then, Obama was always commuting to Springfield, Ill. or Washington DC. As president, he decided not to miss dinner with his family more than twice a week, with exceptions for emergencies. This meant limiting certain presidential activities—West Coast trips, Washington outreach. Because he was intent on being with his family, “there just weren’t that many hours in the day left for reaching out and just picking up the phone” to outsiders, Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor, told me.

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Source: whitehouse.gov


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Exclusive: The Pentagon's Shocking Cover-Up Of The Afghan National Military Hospital Scandal

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While Afghan patients at the U.S. military's “crown jewel” medical facility in Kabul lived in horrific conditions, American and Afghan commanders pushed a relentless public relations campaign to make it look like a success. Warning: Extremely graphic content.

Top U.S. commanders in Afghanistan waged a sophisticated public relations campaign to obscure horrific conditions at the Afghan National Military Hospital, according to former U.S. military officials, Congressional investigators, and new photographic evidence obtained by BuzzFeed.

The revelation is just one of the new details uncovered in a probe that has already triggered two Department of Defense investigations and one hearing by the House's Government Oversight Committee.

BuzzFeed obtained more than 70 images and over 120 field reports and documents that further implicate the command of Gen. William Caldwell in the scandal.

At the time, Caldwell was in charge of NTM-A, or National Training Mission Afghanistan, the $11.2 billion a year program, which included the Dawood National Military Hospital.

"There were glowing stories on NTM-A’s public relations web site about the progress of the [Afghan National Army] medical system," Col. Gerald Carozza, a senior Army lawyer, testified. "With conditions not changing from 2005 to 2010, why did the assessment and public relations reporting show improvement though early 2010 when the reality was clearly different?"

The new information also reveals fresh evidence of neglect at the hospital, possible corruption perpetrated by private Pentagon contractor MPRI, and allegations that top Afghan general Ahmed Yaftali sold 4.5 tons of U.S-purchased medical supplies to Pakistan and embezzled some $20 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars provided to the hospital.

Other documents obtained by BuzzFeed include new details on the Pentagon's efforts to stonewall the investigation — including attempts to keep key details from Congress and efforts to make witnesses unavailable to testify.

Caldwell, now commander of U.S. Army North, has not yet been called before Congress, but a spokesperson for Caldwell has said "all allegations will be proven false."

The images below show the striking contrast between what the U.S. military command in Kabul wanted American audiences to know and the much darker reality of the Dawood National Military Hospital.

View Video ›

March 2010.

"Although the hospital is still undermanned, patient care has improved with the help of additional equipment and capabilities," reads the official U.S. military photo description from early 2010.

"Although the hospital is still undermanned, patient care has improved with the help of additional equipment and capabilities," reads the official U.S. military photo description from early 2010.

Gen. Ahmed Yaftali (left), Afghan surgeon general, with Gen. William Caldwell (right) at Dawood. February 2010.

Source: d1.static.dvidshub.net

When senior U.S. officials and dignitaries visited the National Military Hospital, they were given what Col. Geller called "the dog and pony show" or "the wet mop tour."

When senior U.S. officials and dignitaries visited the National Military Hospital, they were given what Col. Geller called "the dog and pony show" or "the wet mop tour."

June 25, 2010


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The Gay Rights Revolution Arrives At Fox News

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Getting on the “right side of history” — and of the demo. Shep Smith isn't the only one on the barricades any more.

Fractures in conservative opposition to gay rights and even same-sex marriage have now widened to include the core of the right’s message machine, the Fox News Channel, where a cadre of younger voices have begun to defend same-sex relationships and even advocate openly for same-sex marriage.

The channel’s heterodox posture on gay rights comes despite Fox’s siding comfortably with mainstream Republican positions on other divisive social issues of the day, such as abortion and contraception.

But like the Republican Party, whose leaders have begun to step away from anti-gay positions that are deeply unpopular with younger voters, Fox appears to be feeling pressure both from its younger staff and key audience segments to reflect what polls suggest is a rapidly shifting consensus. And over the past year, Shepard Smith, the host of afternoon news show Studio B, has emerged as a vocal champion of same-sex marriage. After President Obama’s announcement in support of gay marriage, Smith looked into the camera said that the Republican Party was “on the wrong side of history” on the issue.

“In television people are worried about the demo,” said Margaret Hoover, a former Fox News contributor and former Bush administration staffer who left the network last year, referring to television advertisers preoccupation with viewers between 18 and 49. “‘Are you getting the demo?’ And the demo supports gay rights.”

Smith’s May marriage remarks provided a shock both to elements of Fox’s conservative audience and to liberals, whose enmity with Fox has only deepend through the Obama years.

“The president of the United States: now in the 21st century,” Smith said, and asked reporter Ed Henry: “I am curious whether you believe in this time of rising debt and medical issues and all the rest, if Republicans would go out on a limb and try to make this a campaign issue while sitting very firmly without much question on the wrong side of history.”

The media picked up on the moment, which was covered like a one-off or an anomaly; The Atlantic Wire wrote that Smith’s reaction “was not your typical Fox News,” and Smith came under fire from Rush Limbaugh for the comment.

Smith hasn’t stopped since then — quipping recently that “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day” was “the national day of intolerance.” And he’s been joined by Megyn Kelly, while other voices on the network — John Stossel, Andrew Napolitano — have shied away from conservative dogma on gay marriage.

Whether Fox’s on-air talent is going rogue or the mandate is coming from on high, some of the network’s most prominent names have started to speak louder and more favorably in support of a cherished liberal cause — winning grudging praise from the left and outrage from the right.

“There has been a softening [at Fox] if you look at the big picture,” said Michael Cole-Schwartz, communications director for the Human Rights Campaign. “It’s just representative of where the country is going on this issue. The more rabid anti-gay voices continue to be marginalized and there’s just not a lot of appetite for anti-gay sentiment.”

Fox is tracing, and perhaps at times leading, a broad and at times disconcertingly fast shift inside Republican politics. Some of the party’s most important donors, organized in part by out former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, now double as donors to marriage equality campaigns. A new generation of leaders have made explicit that the party must, as House Minority Leader Eric Cantor told BuzzFeed last month, show “tolerance” for diverging views on marriage. And Republicans are shying away from making gay marriage a campaign issue this year, Politico noted recently, as polling shows that the country is moving towards broader support of the issue.

Smith is the most notable and frequent example to buck Fox News’ regular party line on the issue.

But the same week that Smith described “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day,” organized by fellow Fox host Mike Huckabee, as a “national day of intolerance,” Kelly joined Smith on his side of the gay marriage debate while interviewing Dr. Robert Jeffress:

"This country has a long history of discrimination against certain groups. Eventually we wind up getting it right. Right? Against women, against blacks, the civil rights movement and so on. And in justifying that discrimination when it was in place, some folks turn to the Bible and turn to their religious beliefs and said we have to have slavery because it’s in the Bible. Women have to be second-class citizens because that’s in the Bible. Blacks and whites can’t get married because that’s in the Bible. That wound up in a case. A judge wrote that in an opinion, which the Supreme Court ultimately struck that down, saying that’s not right, judge—the Equal Protection clause says you can't do that. Why is gay marriage any different?" she asked.

Kelly’s remarks won an “Yglesias Award” from blogger Andrew Sullivan, which the blogger — an early and constant online gay rights voice — grants to writers or commentators who buck a party line.

Hoover, who was a Fox contributor for four years and is now at CNN, these instances are “hosts saying what they really think,” as opposed to a top-down directive from company leadership.

“My sense especially knowing Megyn and Shep and where they are in the building, and their shows and their influence within the building, my sense of it is that this is both of them taking a principled stand,” Hoover said. “It probably isn’t representative of Fox’s positioning on an issue. Clearly Mike Huckabee doesn’t feel the same way.”

Another former Fox employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in fact, higher-ups actively frown on Smith’s outspokenness.

“Shep is on really thin ice,” the former employee said. “If he wasn't so popular and highly rated (and highly paid) Roger [Ailes] would have yanked him off the air months ago.”

A spokeswoman for Fox did not respond to requests for comment.

Fox critics don’t believe the network has instituted a new policy on the issue, but do concede that among some of the highest-profile anchors there’s been a change in tone.

“We certainly want to give credit where credit is due, the anchors that you mentioned we’ve also noticed have been good on LGBT issues,” said Jess Levin, a spokeswoman for Media Matters, which has waged a concerted campaign against the channel. “Megyn was really good on the Chaz Bono thing, she called it disgusting what people were doing. But we don’t think the network as a whole gets a pass.”

Kelly defended Chaz Bono, the transgender son of the musicians Sonny Bono and Cher, though each had children from other relationships, while interviewing a psychiatrist who’d written an editorial for FoxNews.com urging parents to not let their children watch Bono on “Dancing With the Stars.”

“There's so much hate for gays and lesbians and transgendered people," Kelly said. “You seem to be adding to the hate.” She later repeated the point to fellow host Bill O’Reilly.

The shift at Fox has also started to ruffle some conservative feathers. The Media Research Center, through its website NewsBusters, expressed its displeasure by clipping the Chaz Bono clip and Smith’s Chick-Fil-A comment and slamming both of them: Smith spoke “out of the blue,” Kelly “did not admit that gay-left advocates often cite pro-LGBT shows on the major networks as proof that ‘tolerance’ is on the march and conservatives should stop opposing them in public.”

On Kelly, NewsBusters asks: “Who said Fox News was the right-wing channel?”


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Obama Received Praise From Republicans For Helping Implement Welfare-To-Work In The State Senate In 1997

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A new ad from the Romney campaign hits President Obama, alleging the President gutted the Clinton administration's welfare reform bill from 1996. As a State Senator in 1997, President Obama received praise from Republicans for his help in implementing the welfare-to-work requirements at the state level.

Illinois State Senator Dave Syverson:" I would like to take a second to&mdash;to thank Senator Obama for the&mdash;the hours of time that he spent with us in trying to work out a plan that is acceptable and workable.&rdquo;

Illinois State Senator Dave Syverson:" I would like to take a second to—to thank Senator Obama for the—the hours of time that he spent with us in trying to work out a plan that is acceptable and workable.”

(continued) "We believe that with this in place that we will be helping tens of thousands of individuals move from the welfare rolls to the work rolls."

Source: rockrivertimes.com  /  via: ilga.gov

Illinois State Senator Kathy Parker:&ldquo;I would like to commend the Chairman, Senator Syverson, who did a lot of work on this issue, and Senator Obama, for his bipartisan support and work, and all of the comments that were made here."

Illinois State Senator Kathy Parker:“I would like to commend the Chairman, Senator Syverson, who did a lot of work on this issue, and Senator Obama, for his bipartisan support and work, and all of the comments that were made here."

Source: ilcampaign.org  /  via: ilga.gov

Michael Jordan To Headline Obama Fundraiser

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The former Bulls star will be joined by Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony, Patrick Ewing, Sheryl Swoopes and Alonzo Mourning at an Obama fundraising game.

Image by Joe Proudman / AP

Michael Jordan will join in fundraising efforts for Barack Obama at an "Obama Classic" celeb basketball game, the Obama campaign said in an email to supporters.

The NBA legend and team owner donated to Obama's campaign in 2004 and taped a statement in support of NBA alum Bill Bradley's 2000 presidential campaign, but has otherwise been cagey about his political leanings.

Indeed, his resistance to politics was, during his playing career, legendary and controversial: Refusing to endorse a black Democrat against arch-conservative North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms in 1990, he reportedly told a friend: "Republicans buy shoes too."

The classic was originally scheduled for December of 2011, but was postponed because of the end of the NBA labor lockout.

According to the campaign email, the event will also include Kyrie Irving, Carmelo Anthony, Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing and former WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes.

A study of Obama's campaign donations by the Center for Responsive Politics found that the President also received sizable donations from Earvin "Magic" Johnson, LeBron James and Shane Battier during the 2008 campaign.

Romney: America Is No Kibbutz

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His ties to Israel only extend so far.

Image by JESSICA RINALDI / Reuters

Mitt Romney bills himself as an ardent friend of Israel running against President Barack Obama who hasn't visited the American ally since taking the oath of office, but Romney's friendship only extends so far.

At a fundraiser today in Chicago — barely a week after visiting the Holy Land — Romney took a shot at the Israeli Kibbutz movement, a product of the early socialist zionist movement and integral to the story of the founding of the State of Israel.

“It’s individuals and their entrepreneurship which have driven America," Romney said. "What America is not a collective where we all work in a Kibbutz or we all in some little entity, instead it’s individuals pursuing their dreams and building successful enterprises which employ others and they become inspired as they see what has happened in the place they work and go off and start their own enterprises.”

Why Romney Won't Release His Taxes

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Some aides wish he'd done so earlier. But now, they think, it's past “the point of no return.”

Image by JESSICA RINALDI / Reuters

Mitt Romney and his aides believe that — despite loud and nagging calls for him to release his tax returns — the candidate simply cannot afford to release his taxes now, even as some aides wish he would have put them out six months ago or more.

With less than three months to election day, the Romney campaign has passed the "point of no return," as one Republican operative close to the campaign put it, beyond which there isn't enough time for the media to digest the tax returns before the public starts to pay attention to the race.

"The complaining for more and more returns and the stories about how rich he is get old after a few weeks, but there aren't a few weeks left," the operative said. "Now we've got to keep doing what we're doing and hope it isn't too painful."

"It makes Reid look crazy, but it's brilliant," the operative continued." The only thing voters hear is that someone important says Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes for 10 years, which is just false."

One Romney aide who privately supported the candidate releasing the returns during the Republican primary is now convinced it won't help.

"If we release six, they'll demand seven," the aide said, expressing frustration that the returns were not put out earlier this year giving the issue time to settle. "I don't get why people say we should release them now. Now's not the time to release anything."

Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson has taken to Twitter to celebrate that Romney has addressed his boss's comments for the second time, now in an interview today with Fox News.


Psychic Advisor Does Hand Reading Of The Presidential Candidates

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Tony Leggett, a self-described “international inspirer, life coach, and psychic healer/advisor” has taken to doing hand readings of all the presidential candidates. Election over.

Mitt Romney

Source: youtube.com

President Obama

Source: youtube.com

Marco Rubio

Source: youtube.com

Newt Gingrich

Source: youtube.com


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Commission: Only Ohio Distinguishes Military, Civilian Early Voters

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Ohio's nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission finds that no states set the broad distinction that Ohio law does for early in-person voting — and only two states draw any legal distinction. Husted had it wrong.

Kansas voters have the same in-person early or absent voting deadline for servicemembers and non-servicemembers. They would vote here.

Image by Orlin Wagner / AP

Despite claims that Democrats' challenge to an Ohio voting law would undermine military voters' rights everywhere, no other states offer soldiers' the special status afforded in Ohio.

A report issued Aug. 1 by the nonpartisan Ohio Legislative Service Commission found that no other states have any legal provision that has one early in-person voting deadline for most voters and another for servicemembers, as does the Ohio law being challenged by the Obama campaign and defended by Ohio Republicans and some fraternal military organizations. The report, which has not been released publicly, was obtained by BuzzFeed and has been published here for the first time.

The report does note that two states — Indiana and North Carolina — have exceptions in their laws that would allow a very narrow subset of servicemembers to vote early in-person later than other voters.

The Obama campaign's lawsuit in Ohio, in which it is joined by the Democratic National Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party, is about early voting. The specific laws being challenged, however, relate only to in-person early voting and not to traditional mail-in absentee voting, which clearly cuts down on the number of affected active servicemembers.

Ohio law, as it is slated to be run in this year's presidential election, contains one end-point for early in-person voting for most voters (the Friday before the election) and another for those servicemembers and their family voting under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA).

As reported at BuzzFeed over the weekend, the lawsuit aims to expand the later early in-person voting deadline to all voters — not to restrict the early in-person voting deadline of servicemembers. Opponents of the suit, however, have expressed concern about the future implications for other servicemember-related voting laws.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted questioned why the Obama campaign was focused on Ohio, telling reporters after the lawsuit was filed, "Why isn’t it a problem in the 49 other states where they do the same kinds of things?"

The state's legislative research arm issued a report on Aug. 1, however, explaining that no other states have an across-the-board statutory distinction for the end of in-person early voting between most voters and UOCAVA voters.

The report does note, though, "It appears that under certain circumstances, Indiana and North Carolina each enforce a different in-person early or absent voting deadline for UOCAVA and non-UOCAVA voters." Both exceptions, however, relate to the very narrow circumstance in which a servicemember was absent from the state during the normal registration period but returned home in the final days before the election.

Ohio State Rep. Kathleen Clyde, a Democrat who sought the research, defended the lawsuit, telling BuzzFeed, "When it comes to in-person early voting, Democrats want to make sure it is available to our military voters, veteran voters, and all Ohio voters. Restoring the early voting time period that Ohio used in 2008 will benefit all voters."

Of the opposition that the lawsuit has faced, Clyde said, "Special accommodations for military voters are absolutely okay. And I have worked on making sure ballots are not thrown out for technical reasons because that is not fair to voters, including our military voters."

Ohio Memo on Early In-Person Voting Laws

British Sent The HMS Romney To Enforce Taxation Laws In 1768

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In 1768, the British government sent the ship the HMS Romney to Boston Harbor to enforce the Townshend Acts, a series of taxation laws against the American colonies that led to the Boston Tea Party and the American revolution. The ship impressed American sailors, seized a ship belong to John Hancock, and served as a refuge for tax officials from angry mobs.

Source: upload.wikimedia.org

New Violence Prompts Criticism Of Anti-Muslim Lawmakers

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Michele Bachmann and her allies warned of Muslims in government. She's “adding gasoline to the fire” says Rep. Carson.

Image by RICK WILKING / Reuters

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sunday’s terror attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin has prompted some civil rights leaders and members of Congress to say aloud what has long been whispered on Capitol Hill: That the words and conspiracy theories of some of the most anti-Muslim legislators have grown dangerous.

No one has suggested any direct ties between the statements of lawmakers like Rep. Michele Bachmann and the attack on Sunday, which left six victims dead and several others injured. Indeed, the attacker, Wade Michael Page, had longstanding ties to white supremacist groups and deep roots in the racist fringe.

But voices, including those of her colleagues and leading civil rights figures, said the shooting — and a suspected arson attack at a Joplin, Missouri mosque that has previously be the target of anti-Muslim violence — added an urgency to Republican leaders’ efforts to tone down the rhetoric of lawmakers like Bachmann and Reps. Louis Gohmert and Steve King.

Bachmann, Gohmert and King declined to comment for this story, as did the offices of GOP leaders in the House and Senate.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Bachmann’s words contributed to this guy’s actions, but an atmosphere that prejudices and denigrates a people and a faith tradition does make it easier,” said Abraham Foxman, the longtime director of the anti-Defamation League, told BuzzFeed. “Loose language coming from people who have some standing does contribute to an atmosphere that legitimizes it.”

Sikhs are not Muslims, though they have been frequent victims of anti-Muslim attacks since September 11, 2001, in part because Sikh men’s traditional turbans make them look, to some, foreign.

And Bachmann’s words have primarily targeted Muslims. She last month led a small cadre of Republicans in an effort to “expose” Muslim government works, including Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, of having alleged (and unproven) ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

That attack draw strong rebukes from top Republicans including Speaker John Boehner and Sen. John McCain. Bachmann, however, remained defiant, saying in a statement last month that she will “not be silent as this administration appeases our enemies.”

The Wisconsin attacks and mosque burning have again raised the volume of the criticism.

Democratic Rep. Andre Carson, one of two Muslim members of Congress, told BuzzFeed Bachmann is “adding gasoline to the fire” with her campaign against Muslims in government.

The shooting and arson are “the latest examples of religious and ethnic intolerance and discrimination,” he said, warning that “any elected official who sees themselves as a representative of the people needs to be aware that the American people are not monolithic” and that politicians have responsibility to represent “all of their constituents.”

“We have to be fully aware that the kind of … rhetoric and vitriol and political pageantry that seems to be normal in politics has to cease,” Carson added.

The attacks – and calls for a cooling of the nation’s political rhetoric – come on the heels of comments by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on the topic of tolerance in a July interview with Buzzfeed.

Cantor argued that from a “cultural standpoint” Americans need to be more accepting of other people and views.

“We need to be promoting tolerance and, you know, as someone who is a religious minority, I sort of grew up with having that mindset, knowing full well that I am in a very distinct way from a religious background, separate and apart from the mainstream of this country,” Cantor said.

Muslim civil rights leaders also blame some elected Congressional Republicans and other political leaders for aspects of the climate.

“These are incidents that are happening because of the culture of fear and this culture of violence,” said Abed Ayoub, legal director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Statistics on religiously or ethnic motivated attacks are tricky – the FBI says that in 2010 there were more than 2000 attacks motivated by religious or ethnic hatred.

But advocates say those numbers are misleading: many ethnic communities, particularly those with significant populations of illegal aliens, are loathe to report violence of any kind, and activists say thousands of smaller acts of intimidation and threats occur annually.

Ayoub said that while attacks on Arabs and Muslims spiked following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, between 2007 and the beginning of 2010 saw a significant decrease in attacks.

The controversy over the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” erupted in 2010. Republicans and Democrats alike came out against the plan for a mosque near the site of the terrorist attacks, talk radio and cable news covered the controversy closely and Arab-American activists saw the number of attacks once again rise.

“We have seen a significant increase … there’s no question in our mind that the political rhetoric is contributing to this culture of hate and violence,” Ayoub charged.

There is an “onus and responsibility for elected officials to stand against such rhetoric,” Ayoub said Tuesday, arguing that “its up to the party itself and the leaders within the party to stand up and say ‘enough.’”

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