The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

On Fox News Sunday , Republican Vice Presidential candidate - Paul Ryan - had this back and forth with Chris Wallace with regard to the Romney/Ryan tax plan: Wallace: "So how much would it cost?" Ryan: "It's revenue neutral..." Wallace: "No no, I'm just talking about cuts. We'll get to the deductions, but the cut in tax rates." Ryan: "The cut in tax rates is lowering all Americans' tax rates by 20 percent." Wallace: "Right, how much does that cost?" Ryan: "It's revenue neutral..." Wallace: "But I have to point out, you haven't give me the math." Ryan: "No, but you...well, I don't have the time. It would take me too long to go through  all of the math. But let me say it this way - you can lower tax rates by 20 percent across the board by closing loopholes and still have preferences for the middle class. For things like charitable deductions, for home purchases, for heal

I can understand politicians playing the expectation game, so they can in turn attempt to spin things to their advantage following a particular event. With the first presidential debate only three days away, Republican Vice Presidential candidate - Paul Ryan - did just this recently and to a ridiculous extent, in my opinion. When talking to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday  about the debate, Ryan said, "I don't think one event is going to make or break this campaign." Okay, that wasn't so bad, but he then continued by adding the following: "Look, President Obama is a very gifted speaker. The man has been on the national stage for many years.  He's an experienced debater, he's done these kinds of debates before. This is Mitt's first time on this kind of a stage." Mr. Ryan makes it sound as if Obama is running for an 8th presidential term. He also makes it sound as if Mitt Romney is just coming out of college and outside of an after-school pr

The Big Ten only had one non-conference game this weekend and has been the trend with the conference, it anything to brag about as 3-1 Purdue beat 2-3 Marshall of Conference-USA 51-41 in West Lafayette. There are only two unbeatens in the conference now after 3-2 Iowa upended then 4-0 Minnesota 31-13. Ohio State survived a visit to East Lansing in beating Michigan State 17-16 to improve to 5-0. The same could be said of Northwestern, who pulled away late to defeat Indiana 44-29. Penn State won their third in a row, dismantling Illinois 35-7. Lastly, in what was the game of the week in the conference, Nebraska came back from 17 down to defeat Wisconsin 30-27, which sets up for a great match-up for next Saturday night when the Huskers visit Columbus to take on the Buckeyes of Ohio State. Also next week, Northwestern will go on the road to face the suddenly hot Penn State Nittany Lions. Michigan will travel to West Lafayette to face Purdue. Michigan State and Indiana will square off i

Following the Philadelphia Eagles' very disappointing 27-6 loss to unbeaten Arizona last week, head coach Andy Reid was asked about his quarterback situation. For the record, Pro Bowler Michael Vick is the starting quarterback for the 2-1 and co-NFC East leading Eagles. The backup is rookie Nick Foles - a 3rd round draft choice out of Arizona by the Eagles this past year, who has never started an NFL game. Reid said he was sticking with Vick for now. Perhaps he could have worded things a bit differently to not generate any news story with his comment, but after discovering what he had just done via the media's obsession with it over the next 24 hours, he clarified his statement by saying Vick is the starting quarterback and that there was no controversy. Yet even after making that statement, there has still been some talk amongst ESPN pundits about this Eagles quarterback controversy. Granted, Vick has not been the most efficient quarterback in the Eagles' first three gam

A few days ago, when asked if he was going to be campaigning more as the election draws nearer, Mitt Romney said: "Ha ha. We're in the stretch, aren't we? Look at those clouds. It's beautiful. Look at those things." After reading that quote, how else could we explain Romney's words other than he was high at the time? Having read that odd quote by Mr. Romney, I envision him answering the following questions in a similar manner: Question: "Mr. Romney - the public doesn't seem to be warming up to the Romney/Ryan plan for Medicare. How do you plan on winning them over on that front? Romney: "Yes, that's true. Did you watch the game last night? Good game. The ball was really large. It just kind of stuck out. Very pretty." Question: "Mr. Romney, sir - why do you suppose you're down in the poll?" Romney: "Ah - polls. I could really go for some Polish sausage right now. Does anyone have any Polish sausage on them?

It seems like pretty common-sense to me - the more that time moves forward in the world of the arts, the more artists and their works there will be to influence others. This is why when lists are released of the most influential musicians of all time, 98.9% of them were around toward a particular genre's inception. Since I was born in the '80s and grew up in that decade as well as the '90s, I'm prone to liking musicians that were around during those 20 years. While there's nothing wrong with me enjoying groups from those two decades (well, perhaps a couple of them...), I'd be pretty wrong in laying claim that the most influential bands in the history of rock started in the '80s and '90s. There may have been bands whom were influential above all others for a certain style of rock which seemed omnipresent during a stretch of time, however, it'd be ridiculous for me to say they were the most influential bands in the history of rock. Nirvana is said to b

I'm as much a lover of the arts as just about anybody. I enjoy anything from music to cinema to theatre to literature to painting to comedy (yes, I'd consider this an art, unless you're Dane Cook and then I'd consider it a migraine-in-the-making) and beyond. Like anybody, I have my likes and dislikes in the arts. I'm a big fan of Salvador Dali's painting, of Alfred Hitchcock's film-directing, of Kurt Vonnegut's writing, of George Carlin's comedy, while I'm not so fond of Adam Sandler's acting (and humor), Limp Bizkit and Nickelback's music, Larry the Cable Guy's comedy and Nicholas Sparks' writing. These aren't so much facts as they are my opinions. I may be able to make valid arguments in certain cases to better prove my opinions and more so than the opposing side of the debate. However, grading the arts isn't as black and white as is mathematics. While most critics believe Casablanca to be one of the best films in the

Missouri Republican Senatorial candidate, Todd Akin, is at it again. If that man weren't a politician, judging by his words, I'd think he was a porn star. Let's be honest - the man knows how to smooth-talk a woman.  About a month ago, Akin said the following with regard to abortion in the cases of rape: “It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare.  If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down. ” Not long after that asinine statement was made, Akin's opponent - Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill (yes, of course - his opponent is a woman) - made a move in the polls, from down quite a ways to essentially even. Well, ladies, Akin is at it again. The man is smoother than a gravel road filled with porcupines. Following the candidates' debate last week, Akin said this: "I think we have a very clear path to victory, and apparently Claire McCaskill thinks we do, too, because sh

So, to everyone's surprise, I'm sure - the voters think that President Obama can better relate to the average person than Mitt Romney, that he cares more about their needs. Due to these poll results, Romney said the following yesterday: "Don't forget -- I got everybody in my state insured. One hundred percent of the kids in our state had health insurance. I don't think there's anything that shows more empathy and care about the people of this country than that kind of record." Is this man trying to drive others and myself bonkers with regard to where he stands on healthcare reform? Seriously... Let's go through a chronological list pertaining to healthcare reform: 1) Romney signs Romneycare as Governor of Massachusetts 2) Obamacare, which is said to be nearly identical to Romneycare, passes 3) Upon receiving his party's nomination for president, Romney says his first order of business in the Oval Office would be to repeal Obamacare in it

No, I can't say I feel sorry for the guy, but it seems as if nothing is going right for Mitt Romney anymore. Let's look at a list of Romney arguments: 1) Taxes - the public favors the Obama plan of raising taxes on the top income-earners 2) Medicare - the public doesn't care for the Romney/Ryan plan 3) Are we better off than we were 4 years ago? - If we're being literal, then yes. 4) Jobs aren't there - We've seen a net positive in job creation for 23 consecutive months and that's where the most recent bit of news comes along... The Labor Department revised an earlier estimate that total non-farm payrolls were at 133.300 million in August and altered that to 133.686 million. When the President's first term began in January of '09, that number was at 133.561 million. In other words, with that revision in the estimates, Obama went from losing a total of 261,000 jobs in his four years thus far to creating 125,000 of them. Romney had better

I'm sorry to have to inform everyone of this, but I think the Mayans may have been a bit late with their end-of-the-world prediction, for on this day, football fans all across the country: Male, female, black, white, elderly or in their mother's womb, have come together with joy and excitement about referees - a definite sign that the end is near!

I was reading a review the other day and the critic graded an album with a "C+" or in numerical form - 6/12. Wouldn't 6 out of 12 warrant an average "C" grade? Wouldn't the breakdown be something like this? (out of 12) 6 = C 7 = C+ 8 = B- 9 = B 10 = B+ 11 = A- 12 = A/A+ Well, I must be going. I'm about to write a review and grade an album a perfect 5 out of 5 stars - in other words, a C grade.

I hate to come across as condescending and I honestly hate the thought of needing to explain this to people, but I've reached a point where I feel I must. I feel that approximately 78.43% of people don't know the difference between fact and opinion. That number I provided, for example - what was that? A fact? An opinion? Neither. It was complete and utter bull honky. I pulled it from an area that stinks even when the sun is shining. Let's allow Sir Webster to be our guide on this. First off, Sir Webster, what is an opinion? "o-pin-ion (uh-pin-yuhn) noun 1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty. 2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal. 3. the formal expression of a professional judgment. 4. the format statement by a judge or court of the reasoning and the principles of law used in reaching a decision of a case. 5. a favorable estimate; esteem." Now, Sir Webster, what is a fact? "fact (fakt

I love the rock band Muse. They cause me what I call eargasms quite regularly. In light of their releasing an upcoming album in less than a week - The 2nd Law  - I've been on a Muse kick of late and have even tuned into their homepage and read some members' comments in the forum. Thanks to the band and iTunes, I was able to listen to a free stream of the new album in its entirety as of yesterday morning and have heard it twice all the way through now. I will refrain from providing a review until after I purchase the CD next Tuesday and turn it up full blast on my stereo. For the time being, though, I'll provide it a four-word description: Diverse, crazy and awesome. Excited about the new album, I was curious to read fellow fans' thoughts, feelings and reviews of it, so I went to the band's homepage and forum to read such commentary. I became a semi-regular on the site between one and two years ago (reading, not as much when it came to posting), when I saw the ba

We're still six weeks away from the election and there's still plenty of time for Republican candidate Mitt Romney to make up ground in the polls, but Obama's numbers have been surging in recent days and if the election were held tomorrow, I think he'd carry all the states he did in the 2008 election with one exception - Indiana. What's the reason for Obama's surge at the polls? It could be a number of reasons, from Bill Clinton's speech and the Democratic National Convention bounce to Governor Romney's misstatements on Libya, the "47%" and emergency rooms to the jobs situation improving slowly but surely and beyond.  When I last looked at the electoral map a couple weeks ago or so, I saw Obama's guaranteed victories to be in the following states: 1) Washington (12 electoral votes - 12 total) 2) Oregon (7 - 19) 3) California (55 - 74) 4) Hawaii (4 - 78) 5) New Mexico (5 - 83) 6) Minnesota (10 - 93) 7) Illinois (20 -

A few days ago, I got into a discussion with someone about Mitt Romney's "47%" comment(s). This person insisted that Democrats were the only ones who cared about this comment, this number spouted by the Republican presidential candidate. As I had thought at the time, he was wrong. In a new Washington Post /ABC News poll, it showed that 54% of registered voters viewed Romney's "47%" comments unfavorably, while 33% viewed them favorably. With registered independents, 57% viewed the former Massachusetts Governor's comments in a negative light. Similar numbers could be seen in like polls taken in the battleground states of Florida, Colorado and Wisconsin. In Florida, 58% of independents viewed Romney's comments unfavorably, compared to 37% who viewed them favorably. Among Colorado independents, a whopping 37% of them said the comments made them less likely to vote for Romney. That number in Wisconsin was even greater, as 39% of independents said they

I honestly don't mean for the title of this blog to come across as arrogant or like I have all the answers. I don't. However, political debates are becoming a bigger joke than the NFL replacement refs. The thing about it is, I don't even need to make my opinions known in most of these debates. I don't feel prompted to get involved in a debate unless I read or hear something which I know to be false. Unfortunately (for them and for me in a way), this happens quite regularly. I read, research and fact-check with more regularity than meteorologists give an inaccurate forecast. I've found that most people don't do this. They resort to partisan opinion-oriented shows in order to provide them with "knowledge" and seem to then often times mistake opinion as fact and vice versa. So these debates often times go something like this: Them: "Barack Obama is a Muslim, socialist born in Kenya and his wife thinks he deserves the presidency because he's

At a town hall in Cincinnati, Ohio today, Republican vice presidential candidate and front-runner to star as the lead in a "Forrest Gump" remake due to his being able to run across the country in record-breaking time while hardly breaking a sweat - Paul Ryan - said, "The things you talk about like traditional marriage and family and entrepreneurship. These aren't values that are indicative to any one person or creed or color. These are American values, these are universal human values." Yes, I guess it can now be made official that I and many others whom believe in gays' marriage rights are actually aliens sent by the president of a yet discovered planet by the name of Analove (pronounced anna - lohv, of course), where we are all gay. Our planet song is "Macho Man" by the Village People. Our planet movie is "Brokeback Mountain." On our Independence Day, for 24 hours, we just do it up the wazoo. "Universal human values?" Real

After a plane his wife was riding in had to make an emergency landing over the weekend, Republican presidential candidate and future leader of a group called Robot Nation, Mitt Romney, had this to say: "I appreciate the fact that she is on the ground, safe and sound. And I don't think she knows just how worried some of us were. When you have a fire in the aircraft, there's no place to go, exactly." He continued by saying,"...the windows don't open. I don't know why they don't do that. It's a real problem. So it's very dangerous... You can't find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don't open." The New York Times  reported who reported the story - Ashley Parker - updated the matter, by saying, "...it was clear from the context that he was not being serious." I'm not sure if I buy that and if he was kidding, the guy has a very strange sense of humor. When one's w

I regularly do research on my books to see if there's anything interesting that pops up and couldn't help but laugh hysterically at what appeared before my eyes today. On what appears to be a far-right leaning site that isn't coy to debunked conspiracy theories, I found my most recent book - LOL at the GOP  - along with a description of it being advertised on this site (belligerentpolitics.com). Toward the top of the page are the words "Barack Obama Birthplace Kenya," with the following words written underneath it, "Is it time to stop questioning the birth certificate of Obama? Wednesday, the governor of Hawaii signed a bill that limits the number of requests that individuals can make a birth certificate for Obama..." Not far below that is a picture of my book with a description of it. In my book, which satirizes the far-right end of the political spectrum, I debunk many claims made about the president - one being that he was born in Kenya! Yes, on

While, in light of me fighting a cold, I knew I should have gone to bed early last night, but for some reason, I had a gut feeling that the end of the Monday night football game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks was going to be one to remember. As seems to be typical, my gut was right.  Like many others, I have been rather critical of the replacement refs, but it didn't truly feel as if the referees had genuinely cost a team a game. There were a couple of games they potentially could have decided, but there wasn't that one game yet which stood out from the rest and provided such an uproar from players, fans, coaches and the media alike, that it basically demanded the league work something out with the regular officials. After Monday night's game, there can't be any questioning that potential consequence anymore, for the officials blew the game for the Green Bay Packers. It should be noted that I'm not a fan of either Green Bay or Seattle. Actual

When in a discussion about Romney's "47%" comments and providing evidence that the Republican candidate was inaccurate with his numbers and whom they represented, I was told to "stop thinking like a Democrat" and told that the only people who care about that "47%" are Democrats. I then provided proof this wasn't entirely accurate, as many conservative pundits have criticized Romney for his remarks, including: David Brooks, Joe Scarborough, David Frum, former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, Mark McKinnon, Bill Kristol, etc. Several Republican politicians have distanced themselves from Romney since those remarks were made public. I guess my question is, how does one define "thinking like a Democrat" or on the opposite side, "thinking like a Republican?" My intent with my research and fact-checking was not to come across as partisan. It was not my intent to "think like a Democrat." It was simply my intent to get to

In an interview with "60 Minutes" on Sunday, the following back and forth was exchanged between Mitt Romney and Scott Pelley: Pelley: "Does the government have a responsibility to provide health care to the 50 million Americans who don't have it today?" Romney: "Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance. If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care. And different states have different ways of providing for that care." Pelley: "What's the most expensive way to do it? In an emergency room." Romney: "Again, different states have different ways of doing that. Some provide that care through clinics. Some provide care through emergency rooms. In my state, we found a solution that worked for my state. But I wouldn't take what we did in Massachusetts and say to Texas, 'You've got to ta

On Friday, Mitt Romney released his 2011 "effective tax rate," which was said to be at 14.1%. Yeah, you know it's been an awful week for the Romney campaign when they divert attention to the one area they tried to avoid said attention for so long - Romney's tax returns. At the end of the day, the released information led to more questions than answers and may wind up hurting the Romney campaign in the end, due to them bringing the story back up front and center. Republican strategist Alex Castellanos had this to say following this bit of news: "At first I thought this was an April Fool's Joke. But it isn't April. I can't imagine that David Axelrod will now say, I'm glad Mitt put this issue behind him. This will drag Mitt's taxes back into the debate. And there's not many days left. I just can't imagine why they would do this. There are 40 days left and you have now made more of them about Mitt's taxes....you don't serve

Here's just one story from yesterday's NFL action where the replacement refs did in fact appear to be more clueless than Forrest Gump when listening to Albert Einstein speak. In a game between the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles, the Cardinals quarterback - Kevin Kolb - got sacked on a 1st down play. The Cardinals were also flagged for holding. To my surprise, the head official stated that Philly would take the holding call and it'd remain 1st down. At that point, Philly head coach Andy Reid had a few words for the officials and informed them that he wanted to decline the penalty. The head official came out, said the penalty was declined and it'd result in the down being 3rd. Yes - from 1st to 3rd. Then Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt spoke to the official to inform them the down wasn't three. The head official came back out, said that Philly had accepted the penalty and it'd result in it being 2nd down. In other words, Philly declined the pena

I've given sports writers a hard time due to how fickle and hyperbolic many seem to be, especially regarding the sport of football. I'm amazed at how many quarterbacks can be hailed as the second-coming of John Elway one Sunday and then told he'd be lucky to start another NFL game the following Sunday. As I've come to realize, fans are just as bad, if not worse at times. With me being a fairly neutral observer and lover of the sports world, I don't typically find myself resorting to these kinds of tactics. However, following games on Saturdays and Sundays, I'll sometimes read through message boards and am amazed by what I see. I remember when living in Nebraska, if the Nebraska Cornhuskers' football team lost a game, I'd hear some people calling for the firing of the head coach or the benching of the quarterback (often times both). I've heard similar comments about the Buckeyes' football team since moving to the Columbus area from Omaha about

It was definitely a day to remember for the Arizona Cardinals and one to forget for the Philadelphia Eagles. With the win, Arizona improved to 3-0 for the first time since 1974. The loss moved the Eagles into a 1st place tie in the NFC East alongside New York and Dallas, whom both won over the weekend. The Philly defense, for the most part, played well. They held Arizona to 292 total yards on the day and only 99 on the ground (2.9 per carry), however their top 5-pass defense got owned at times by the Cardinals' passing attack. Standout receiver for the Cardinals, Larry Fitzgerald, had a field day on the Eagles' secondary - catching 9 passes for 114 yards and a score. In the grand scheme of things, however, the Eagles' defense was the least of their worries. While their special teams were nothing to marvel about, most of the problems Philly faced on Sunday afternoon were with regard to the offense. The two things that stood out to me were the play-calling and blocking.

The further we move along in the college football season, the less impressed I've been with the Big Ten Conference. Three unbeatens remain after Saturday: Ohio State, who had trouble putting away 0-3 UAB, by the final score of 29-15; Northwestern, who took care of I-AA South Dakota; and lastly Minnesota, who beat Syracuse by a touchdown to improve to 4-0. Wisconsin had trouble with 1-3 UTEP, beating Mike Price's Miners by 11 points. Michigan State trailed 0-4 Eastern Michigan 7-3 at the half and were up only 9-7 at the end of three, before scoring a couple touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Nebraska beat I-AA Idaho State quite handily. Penn State struggled to beat 1-2 Temple, 24-13. Iowa lost to Central Michigan of the MAC, 32-31. Michigan fell to 2-2 after their 13-6 loss at the hands of Notre Dame. Lastly, Illinois got pummeled at home by Louisiana Tech, 52-24. Conference play starts this weekend,where: Undefeated Northwestern will host Indiana, Penn State will pay a vis

This is getting to be ridiculous. I take that back - it's been getting ridiculous for some time and there may not be a word in the English language fully appropriate for just how ridiculous things have gotten. At President Obama's Univision forum recently, he responded to a question with the following: "I think that I've learned some lessons over the last four years, and the most important lesson I've learned is that you can't change Washington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside. That's how I got elected, and that's how the big accomplishments like health care got done, was because we mobilized the American people to speak out." Now, I don't completely agree with the president, as I feel it's kind of silly to suggest you can't make a difference yourself and change Washington from the inside in addition to people on the outside working hard to bring about change in this nation's capital. However, I underst

I'm not sure if this was just a coincidence or what exactly, but it appeared as if Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was a bit darker in complexion during his September 19th interview on Univision (U.S. Spanish-language television network). I'm not sure if the guy was attempting to look more Latino, compete with Speaker of the House - John Boehner - for the most orange complexion in the country or if in preparation for a loss in November's election, he's auditioning become the Syracuse Orange's new mascot. Picture of Romney on Univision http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/17520-romney-darkens-skin-color-to-appear-more-hispanic-for-univision-interview Picture of Boehner   http://www.mockpaperscissors.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/WeepyBoehnerFlat.jpg   Picture of the Syracuse mascot http://touchdownsandtogas.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/syracuse-orange-mascot.jpg  

In an interview on Radio Iowa Thursday, Mitt Romney's wife - Ann - said the following with regard to her husband being criticized by fellow Republicans: "Stop it. This is hard. You want to try? Get in the ring. This is hard and, you know, it's an important thing that we're doing right now and it's an important election and it is time for all Americans to realize how significant this election is and how lucky we are to have someone with Mitt's qualifications and experience and know-how to be able to have the opportunity to run this country." I find this to be amusing, because of something that was uncovered in the secret tape which was spilled a few days ago.  During that fundraiser in Boca Raton, Mitt told the donors that he was using his wife on the campaign,  “...sparingly... so that people don't get tired of her.”
 In light of Ann's radio interview, rumor has it that Mitt told those same donors from the secret tape, "See? I told you&q

Over the past 3+ years, Republicans have laid claim that President Obama went on an apology tour early in his tenure and has consistently apologized for America ever since then. To these Republicans, for one to admit this country isn't perfect, that we made a mistake is akin to apologizing. I don't understand this. If I tell a woman that I'm not perfect, is that me apologizing for who I am? No - I'm simply being honest and I'm sure she'll appreciate that. I could do one better by telling her I'd work on these imperfections in an attempt to better myself and in turn, our relationship. That's not me saying I'm sorry. That's me being realistic and honest. There's a stark difference between the two.  Every fact-checking site out there has looked over these Republican accusations of the president apologizing for America and every one of them has come back with the same answer - it's not true.  Let's be realistic here - foreign

On Wednesday night, Republican Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, said the following: "Now and then the president says I'm the grandfather of Obamacare. I don't think he meant that as a compliment, but I'll take it..." I'm trying to make sense of this man. In so doing, I'll attempt to run down the notable healthcare-related events chronologically and see if things start to finally click upstairs for me: 1) Romney signs Romneycare as Governor of Massachusetts 2) Obamacare, which is said to be nearly identical to Romneycare, passes 3) Upon receiving his party's nomination for president, Romney says his first order of business in the Oval Office would be to repeal Obamacare in its entirety 4) Romney later states that there are portions of Obamacare he likes and wouldn't mind holding onto 5) After hearing angry conservatives yelling at him and throwing feces at his bedroom window while cursing at him in jive, he states that he'll repeal

Mitt Romney is something else. Upon video footage being released of him telling some large donors that he won't worry about 47% of the American population, since he has no chance to win their vote (not true, as Obama only leads with these voters by a 49-43% margin) and standing by that for a few days, the Republican Presidential nominee is now saying he represents 100% of the people in this country. Let's run through this series of events: 1) Romney tells large donors at a private fundraiser that 47% of the population doesn't matter and without his knowledge, someone records the speech 2) The tape gets fully released 4 months later 3) Romney faces major backlash due to the tape and this can be seen both in poll numbers and heard from liberal and conservative politicians and talking heads alike 4) Romney more or less stands by what he said in the tape for a few days 5) Romney then tells the public that he supports not just 53% of them, but all 100% of them Yeah

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have called themselves "The Comeback Team," which can be seen displayed on billboards, bumper stickers, television ads, the internet, temporary tattoo stickers, autographs signed on women's chests, etc. Initially, I imagine the Republican Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates meant for this slogan to mean that by electing them, they'll bring the country back to where it should be in their minds - both from an economic and "moral" standpoint. America is going to "comeback" under their leadership, I'm sure is what was intended with the phrase. However, in light of a new Pew poll showcasing that President Obama leads Romney by 8 points among likely voters, perhaps the before-mentioned slogan was merely a foreshadowing of that. Of course, the slogan can be taken rather ambiguously and being the smart aleck that I am, I'd like to have some fun with it. I'll now concoct a few alternative sayings of the Romn

Once again, as I predicted with regard to Mitt Romney's "47%" comments, he's found himself at an even steeper uphill climb than prior to the video's release. Two polls came out today to illustrate that - from Gallup and Reuters. In the Gallup poll, by nearly a two to one ratio, respondents stated they were now less likely to vote for Romney in the November election due to the video - 36% saying they were less likely, while 20% said they were more likely to vote for the Republican candidate. The ratio was even closer to two to one when it came to Independents - 29% saying they were less likely to vote for Romney and 15% saying they were more likely to vote for him.  The numbers were even more striking in the Reuters poll, where it showed that 43% of registered voters have a less favorable view of Mitt Romney following the video's release. Another 59% said the Republican candidate was being unfair to the 47% of Americans he made remarks about in the video

After hearing that the "secret video" had leaked of him telling some large donors at a private fundraiser in Boca Raton that 47% of Americans are fully dependent upon government and can't even brush their own teeth or wipe their own backsides without the government there to help, Mitt Romney responded by saying his comments were "not elegantly stated," yet has stood by his claims. Romney's running mate - Paul Ryan - said Romney's comments were "inarticulate." Have either of these two heard the Republican nominee speak? At that private fundraiser, he was more articulate, more elegant than I'd ever heard him be before. He actually laid about specifics, which is about as rare for Romney to do as it is for me to win a diving competition while never leaving my bed. The guy sounded genuine, which is about as likely as O.J. Simpson becoming a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.  It's difficult for me to take the Republican ticket serio