The current political fervor that is winding to a conclusion (finally) in the United States, has drawn the usual measure of accusations, flying back and forth like some sort of verbal fireworks display. In this now rather customary performance of chest pounding and bravado-enriched name calling, we are used to seeing the label "liar" thrown around rather loosely. But as typical as this bombardment has always been, this year has seen the birth to a new breed of fabrication--one that has never been so boldly experienced in American politics.
This year's "liar" labels will forever reshape the political landscape with newly acquired depth of meaning for American politics in general. In fact, there has never been a time when lying has been so universally exploited as a primary strategy for success. This 2012 election year will go down in history as a milestone, marking the point at which brazen lying became not just another tangential component, but THE major focus of a presidential campaign strategy.
In earlier years the use of deliberate fabrication has had its moments of influence both in political campaigns and after their respective elections. The words, "They have WMDs," and "I am not a crook," still ring with a vibrancy that is unmistakable. And while a case can certainly be made for there being a systematic formulation of a network of lies in both of those cases, they pale in comparison to the tightly sewn fabric of UNRELATED lies produced in our current election cycle.
You see, this year things are different. It isn't just an occasional lie, a slight bending of the truth for momentary gain. And it isn't so much a meshwork of interrelated lies, for the purpose of supporting a specifically related agenda, as was the case with the WMDs, for example.
This year we have planned, rehearsed, scheduled lies on a scale never before measured. But these lies are not related to an agenda like justifying the invasion of a sovereign nation or the illegal bugging of an office. No, this year's network of lies indeed has no formal structure, no melding together of a baseline set of opinions about any specific event or agenda. In fact, it isn't even a network. It is, instead, just a series of fabrications based on the researched tendencies of the audience in question. The only agenda involved here is the presentation of what the audience wants to hear, and there is no curbing that agenda with any prior statements to the contrary. It couldn't matter less what has been said before. Only what needs to be said right now is of any concern. Only what THIS GROUP wants to hear is of any importance whatsoever.
But just for fun let's cite some examples. You are on record as saying, "Let Detroit go bankrupt?" Does that present a problem now that a lot of folks are out of work, and lots more who ARE working, are doing so in the companies you would have allowed to go bankrupt? No problem. You ignore what you said previously and state matter-of-factly to your audience of Michigan voters, "I would never do anything to hurt Detroit."
You stated when you campaigned for Governor of Massachusetts, that you were Pro-Choice, and would never do anything to change the existing laws protecting that choice. But in the primaries of your 2008 Presidential campaign--obviously speaking to a group of Pro-Lifers--you said that while Governor, you "came down on the side of Life constantly...in every way" that you knew to be possible.
You claim that you resigned from the infamous Bain Capital in 1999, so you couldn't have had anything to do with the many Bain-controlled companies that went bankrupt, and the many jobs that were lost accordingly during BAIN's rather ugly period of "harvesting assets." But public records indicate you were the CEO and sole stock holder in Bain for at least three more years after 1999. No problem. Just say again, unequivocally, that you resigned in 1999 and had nothing to do with Bain during that period when you were being paid by Bain.
In March you publicly announce your support for the Roy Blunt amendment, which would allow employers to deny contraceptive coverage to employees. Seven months later you emphatically state in a presidential debate, "I don’t believe employers should tell someone whether they could have contraceptive care or not. Every woman in America should have access to contraceptives."
With the Romney campaign in full swing, it is easy to see the major focus and overriding strategy has become the perpetuation of old lies and the promulgation of as many new ones as possible. His campaign continues to run advertising containing critical falsifications that have been soundly debunked by those who do that sort of thing. But Mr. Romney has already covered that minor inconvenience by stating that he would not allow his campaign to be run by fact-checkers. Apparently, he has an equal aversion to the facts, themselves. After all, who needs facts when you make up the statements you require, as the need arises?
This serial falsifier is the first recorded case of Romnesiac Mythomania. It is a term I proudly coin based on the brilliant contribution of some anonymous Obama campaign worker who came up with the name, Romnesia, for Mitt's particular brand of selective forgetting.
It can only be hoped that in a few days, our country can get back to the business at hand, and do some selective forgetting of this Romney campaign, as well.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
President Romney and the New American Reality
By Dan Cooper
I want to project a couple of months into an alternate reality. As unattractive and improbable as it may be, I believe it behooves us to take a serious look at what it could be like.
On January 20, 2013, the 45th President of the United States is sworn into office by Chief Justice John Roberts. On January 23, President Mitt Romney confides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Romney's oath of office included the assurance that he "would protect the independence of Israel at all costs."
January 24: The president names his Cabinet appointees, and specifies three new posts, ambiguously titled, and filled by representatives of the national energy lobby, agribusiness, and the American Bankers Association.
January 25: President Romney meets with Democratic Party leaders in Congress, assuring them that he will co-operate with them on key legislative issues if they will consent to major policy concessions. They agree, if he will agree to retain Obamacare. The president agrees.
January 28: President Romney assures Republican leadership in Congress that he will sign whatever repeal of Obamacare they are able to bring to his desk.
February 5: The president represents The United States in a key summit of World Leaders on the subject of Climate Change, at which time he signs a new accord on the subject. The details of the accord are widely publicized.
February 8: The president assures Republican leadership in Congress that the media have distorted the actual content of the recently signed World Climate Accord, and that it actually stipulates that the United States is exempt from restriction to any binding commitment.
February 11: President Romney signs a Presidential Memorandum suspending all government inspections and restrictions to energy companies based in the United States, who are actively seeking new oil reserves. The memorandum authorizes them to implement their own internal inspection programs.
February 13: President Romney signs an executive order legalizing and encouraging the use of waterboarding as a means to extract information from detainees who were incarcerated "on suspicion of terroristic behaviors or associations."
February 15: President Romney meets with representatives of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), assuring them that his administration will support their continuing research commitments and policy guidelines.
February 19: The President signs into law a functional gutting of USGCRP, replacing it with a new department of Global Operative Policy and Informational Fact Formulation (GOPIFF).
February 22: Romney signs a bill limiting funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), returning its funding limits back to levels prior to the Obama administration's expansion of that program.
February 22: The president signs into law a defunding of Medicare, and the formulation of a replacement privately funded voucher system, RomneyCare, to take effect immediately.
February 22: Romney signs into law an expansion of the United States military by 40,000 employees, and recommends an across the board increase of budgetary funding for the military by $1.3 billion "to re-build America's military strength and counteract the imminent threat of terrorism in the world."
March 4: The president signs into law the Economic Recovery Plan and Tax Equalization Act (ERP-TEA), maintaining existing tax levels for Americans earning $600,000 or less, while reducing tax liabilities for those earning over that amount.
March 5: Romney bows to the will of food industry giants, Sanderson Farms, Pilgrim's Pride, and Tyson Foods, by de-funding all federal government inspections of poultry farming in the U.S. This, the president claims, eliminates needless bureaucratic expense and streamlines the food industry when it is most in need of increasing its ability to meet the nation's rising demand for food. This action, he claims, will not only speed the food production process, but will reduce the cost to the consumer, helping to alleviate the difficult economic conditions "left to us by the previous administration."
March 15: The president signs into law a budget to dramatically reduce the government programs that require for their maintenance a continued borrowing from nations like China. This new budget--known as the Big-Bird Budget--makes an across the board cut of 25 percent in funding for the federal agencies in charge of Commerce, Education, Agriculture, Labor, and Health and Human Services. Slightly less drastic cuts of 20 percent are mandated for Transportation, Veteran's Affairs, the Department of the Interior, the Federal Trade Commission, the Social Security Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is singled out for a deeper cut of 50 percent.
Funding is eliminated entirely for each of the following independent agencies and government corporations:
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
Corporation for National and Community Service
Election Assistance Commission
Federal Labor Relations Authority
National Science Foundation
Commission on Civil Rights
And that would just about wrap up Mitt Romney's first couple of months of work as President of the United States. He would be due for a three-week vacation at Camp David "with a few close friends," where he could plan the possible accomplishments of his next few months in office.
This article cross-posted at OpEdNews.com and DailyKos.com
I want to project a couple of months into an alternate reality. As unattractive and improbable as it may be, I believe it behooves us to take a serious look at what it could be like.
On January 20, 2013, the 45th President of the United States is sworn into office by Chief Justice John Roberts. On January 23, President Mitt Romney confides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Romney's oath of office included the assurance that he "would protect the independence of Israel at all costs."
January 24: The president names his Cabinet appointees, and specifies three new posts, ambiguously titled, and filled by representatives of the national energy lobby, agribusiness, and the American Bankers Association.
January 25: President Romney meets with Democratic Party leaders in Congress, assuring them that he will co-operate with them on key legislative issues if they will consent to major policy concessions. They agree, if he will agree to retain Obamacare. The president agrees.
January 28: President Romney assures Republican leadership in Congress that he will sign whatever repeal of Obamacare they are able to bring to his desk.
February 5: The president represents The United States in a key summit of World Leaders on the subject of Climate Change, at which time he signs a new accord on the subject. The details of the accord are widely publicized.
February 8: The president assures Republican leadership in Congress that the media have distorted the actual content of the recently signed World Climate Accord, and that it actually stipulates that the United States is exempt from restriction to any binding commitment.
February 11: President Romney signs a Presidential Memorandum suspending all government inspections and restrictions to energy companies based in the United States, who are actively seeking new oil reserves. The memorandum authorizes them to implement their own internal inspection programs.
February 13: President Romney signs an executive order legalizing and encouraging the use of waterboarding as a means to extract information from detainees who were incarcerated "on suspicion of terroristic behaviors or associations."
February 15: President Romney meets with representatives of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), assuring them that his administration will support their continuing research commitments and policy guidelines.
February 19: The President signs into law a functional gutting of USGCRP, replacing it with a new department of Global Operative Policy and Informational Fact Formulation (GOPIFF).
February 22: Romney signs a bill limiting funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), returning its funding limits back to levels prior to the Obama administration's expansion of that program.
February 22: The president signs into law a defunding of Medicare, and the formulation of a replacement privately funded voucher system, RomneyCare, to take effect immediately.
February 22: Romney signs into law an expansion of the United States military by 40,000 employees, and recommends an across the board increase of budgetary funding for the military by $1.3 billion "to re-build America's military strength and counteract the imminent threat of terrorism in the world."
March 4: The president signs into law the Economic Recovery Plan and Tax Equalization Act (ERP-TEA), maintaining existing tax levels for Americans earning $600,000 or less, while reducing tax liabilities for those earning over that amount.
March 5: Romney bows to the will of food industry giants, Sanderson Farms, Pilgrim's Pride, and Tyson Foods, by de-funding all federal government inspections of poultry farming in the U.S. This, the president claims, eliminates needless bureaucratic expense and streamlines the food industry when it is most in need of increasing its ability to meet the nation's rising demand for food. This action, he claims, will not only speed the food production process, but will reduce the cost to the consumer, helping to alleviate the difficult economic conditions "left to us by the previous administration."
March 15: The president signs into law a budget to dramatically reduce the government programs that require for their maintenance a continued borrowing from nations like China. This new budget--known as the Big-Bird Budget--makes an across the board cut of 25 percent in funding for the federal agencies in charge of Commerce, Education, Agriculture, Labor, and Health and Human Services. Slightly less drastic cuts of 20 percent are mandated for Transportation, Veteran's Affairs, the Department of the Interior, the Federal Trade Commission, the Social Security Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency. The budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is singled out for a deeper cut of 50 percent.
Funding is eliminated entirely for each of the following independent agencies and government corporations:
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
Corporation for National and Community Service
Election Assistance Commission
Federal Labor Relations Authority
National Science Foundation
Commission on Civil Rights
And that would just about wrap up Mitt Romney's first couple of months of work as President of the United States. He would be due for a three-week vacation at Camp David "with a few close friends," where he could plan the possible accomplishments of his next few months in office.
This article cross-posted at OpEdNews.com and DailyKos.com
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