Things to Know - 21 August

        

1.  Mr. Paul Ryan has a very shallow definition of foreign affairs experience.  When asked to comment on his perceived lack, he responded by saying that as a member of Congress he voted to send troops to was (the Iraq War).  Simply marvelous that we have such a bench mark that people can relate to !   As the weeks roll on, we are seeing the implosion of what was supposed to be the premiere cornerstone of Mitt's foundation.  Not good:

http://www.nationalmemo.com/the-wrong-kind-of-experience-paul-ryans-big-foreign-policy-credential/?utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website

2.  Along with a shallow understanding of foreign policy experience, Mr. Ryan has also demonstrated that his infatuation with Ayn Rand is of similar skin-deep conviction.  Captain Abs cherry picked a bushel of her quotes and ran the gamut of the country side extolling her virtues.  When confronted with the other aspects of Ms. Rand, poor Pablo hops on his horse and bolts for the nearest exit:

http://www.nationalmemo.com/ayn-rand-is-a-curious-choice-for-conservative-veneration/?utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website

3.  This is an excellent article that deals with the phenomena of how seemingly normal people get so wrapped up with the toxic values of the extreme right that things get very ugly.  Remember people cheering the example of a sick person was laid out to die at the doorway of a hospital due to a lack of health insurance...yes, people erupted in cheering delight !!  How do they get that way?   It has a lot to do with the framework that the extreme right has built to deal with raising the individual over the collective group.  It is actually more complex than that, but this article does a good job of explaining that:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/print/45025/

4.  By the time you read this, Todd Akin will be done with.   The interesting thing is that Claire McCaskill invested a lot of resources in Missouri GOP primary to ensure that Akin would be her opponent.  That investment has paid off.   Today, the Missouri GOP has said that they will not spend any more money to help his campaign, and all the big-wigs of the GeeOpee have disowned him or are running away from him.  Akin most likely will lose in his attempt to unseat McCaskill, so chalk up one seat retained for the Democrats.   Is it any wonder that the inept, bizarre, extremely goofy array of Republicans is finally getting noticed?   I mean, you got a bunch of young house reps skinny-dipping in Israel, Ryan looking more vulnerable every day, and his Mittness is melting in his plastic skeletal infrastructure:

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/todd-akins-greatest-hits.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tpm-news+%28TPMNews%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

5.  Consistent with his continuing inconsistency, Mitt Romney has had to abandon the subject of Medicare, and is now complaining that Obama has failed to keep the nation up to speed on Afghanistan.  WTF?   That is the Romney camp tactic for today - just throw something else up at the wall and see if it sticks.  By tomorrow, or the next day, it will be something else.  Folks, this is getting to be tragically humorous.  The not-ready-for-prime-time candidacy of Willard Mitt Romney is on full display:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-avoids-medicare-raises-other-issues-in-town-hall-appearance-with-ryan/2012/08/20/a9a8e604-eaea-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html

6.  Want to know what  Maul Pitney talk about when they campaign, here is a sampling:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-passing-and-punting-on-the-trail/2012/08/20/f8e2572a-eb10-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html?hpid=z2

7.   Roger Cohen of the NY Times offers up a view of the collision course that our fiscal and foreign policy are on.   To the degree that Obama is not itching for any new wars, and shows competency in continuing to wind down what we are involved in....while at the same time, Team RomRyan sounds like we need to bully our way in leadership...well that is a difference.  Fiscal policy - one of austerity and budget cutbacks with no details on anything, and Obama wanting to spend on infrastructure and education in a big way is also a difference.  When parties collide:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/opinion/collision-course.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

8.   Let's close it up on a bit of background and bio information on the sinking star of the GOP - Todd Akin.   If the GOP is going to reform itself, it should do a better job of it so that the transitions do not happen real-time on the public stage.  The way the guy is flaming out, he's taking any and all of the conservative positions on Women, Abortion, Access to Women's Health, Planned Parenthood down with him.  Putting a face on those positions, and you can take almost the entire slate of GeeOpee candidates that were on the debate stage 8 months ago.  Being embarrassed by Akin's performance, the Republicans should remember, that each one of them have all taken the same public positions espoused by Akin.   What a beautiful flame ...for spacious skies and endless reams of tax returns, from sea to shining sea:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-tea-party-rogue-todd-akin-defies-gop-bosses-by-staying-in-race-20120820,0,4676682,print.story

--
Juan

"Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance?"" 
       -- Phyllis Diller

"Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen." 
       -- John le Carre

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       -- John Dewey

"If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done." 
       -- Ludwig Wittgenstein

"The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool." 
       -- Jane Wagner