It isn’t rhetoric when I say Republicans aren’t a political party. They’re a syndicate of Grifters. It’s literal truth.
If you argue issues with one of these Republicans it’s like a trip down a rabbit hole to a netherworld. With Grifters there’s only one rule of thumb. Steer clear. Nothing good will come. They play by their own rules. The only match for a Grifter is another Grifter. Anyone else who dares to get tangled up in their lies ends up diminished in one way or another.
President Obama listens to a torrent of lies spilling
from his opponent's mouth.
I have more respect for President Obama than ever. He didn’t follow Romney down the rabbit hole. He showed enormous self control and strength. He maintained his dignity and integrity. The office of POTUS is in safe hands with him.
Romney’s grotesque performance at the first presidential debate proved how much he loves to lie. It energizes him. It makes him happy. He wasted no time getting started as soon as he had a chance to speak.
First, President Obama opened with a reference to Romney’s tax proposal that promises a 20% reduction in the marginal rates across the board and he asked how it would be funded without adding to the deficit. Romney denied his tax plan featured any such tax cuts. Obama tried again and out of Romney's mouth, this time, came a tale we haven't heard before in this campaign season.
“I'm not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut. What I've said is I won't put in place a tax cut that adds to the deficit.” Romney’s plan appears on his website and it has been analyzed and scrutinized but this qualification came out of the blue.
Again Obama warned that the tax cuts would repeat the same error Republicans made in 2001 and again Romney disavowed any connection to a tax cutting plan.
“I’m not in favor of a $5 trillion tax cut. That's not my plan. My plan is not to put in place any tax cut that will add to the deficit.”
Moderator Jim Lehrer losing control of the debate
to Romney's aggressive tactics.
That ended any pretense of a real debate.
Obama recognized what Romney was doing and identified the correct strategy for dealing with it. He wasn't going to let himself or the office of the Presidency be disrespected. A lying Grifter didn't belong there in a debate with the President.
Romney spent the remainder of the debate talking to himself and Jim Lehrer. He tried addressing the President later with a list of familiar complaints about the slow recovery and with accusations about Medicare.
The President was barely responsive to Romney’s rants. He remained aloof in a way that was completely misjudged by the popular media pundits after the debate. He created a stark contrast between himself, contemplative, serious, and intellectual while Romney came across as a smug, arrogant, rude, and aggressive bully.
Romney even gave moderator Jim Lehrer a difficult time insisting on altering the format to allow himself more opportunities to have the last word on any given topic.
Romney gets carried away with himself
There was a remarkable moment that came when Lehrer offered Romney first crack at a question:
"What are the differences between the two of you as to how you would go about tackling the deficit problem in this country?"
Romney’s answer has to be an unprecedented debate first. I don't believe there has ever been a moderator who was threatened with job loss by one of the debating candidates. This is one way to influence a moderator to favor you.
Moderator Jim Lehrer learns Romney
has him in his sights
"I'm sorry, Jim. I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS.
I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I'm not going to — I'm not going to keep
on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it."
This was Romney’s most hideous moment. He has a knack for saying things that he doesn't seem to realize are inappropriate. With a deficit of over a $1 trillion, shutting down PBS isn't going to go very far toward balancing the budget. But Mitt has this thing about firing people.
His face and mannerisms seemed to betray a sadistic sense of satisfaction he derived from letting Lehrer know that Obama wasn’t the only man present whose job would be in jeopardy if he had his way. With all the talk of job creation during the debate it's ironic that Mitt seemed to relish the thought of Obama and Lehrer both losing their jobs.
The camera caught Lehrer’s grimace for a second In a reaction shot, as Mitt seemed to be performing some sort of demonic ritual focused on him. For the remainder of the debate he seemed a little too obsequious and pliable with Mitt's pushy tactics and I had to wonder whether he was thinking about what Mitt said and if he was intimidated.