5 Reasons The World Will Laugh Their Balls Off At Us For Electing Mitt Romney

[babylonsister]

http://www.politicalgarbagechute.com/5reasonsballsoff/

5 Reasons The World Will Laugh Their Balls Off At Us For Electing Mitt Romney
November 1, 2012
by James Schlarmann


George W. Bush did a lot of damage to our reputation abroad. He was a lightning rod for criticism in the post-9/11 days because he went from a rational and sane response (i.e we find, capture or kill Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, or wherever he may be) to a war mongering cowboy, unwilling to be diplomatic in even the slightest meaning of the word. We’ve always had a tentative relationship with the rest of the world because of how we chose to flex our muscle in the time that followed World War II, but Bush basically made us look like a bunch of arrogant, jock douchebags; and that’s precisely what our foreign policy looked like. It’s like Dubya bought a Ford F-150, raised it, and then stuck a backwards baseball cap on his thick skull and drove around the world, ‘froadin’ and giving the finger to anyone who said, “Hey, calm down, bro.”

Make no mistake, should Romney win next week, we’re going right back there. So I thought it might be fun to think about exactly what the rest of the world will point at us and laugh about when it comes to President Mitt Romney, and here’s the best five.


#5. Mitt Believes He Gets His Own Planet After He Dies

Below the belt? Maybe. But come on, people. Mitt Romney ascribes himself to a faith that promises him his very own inter-stellar kingdom, and he believes we all come from the planet Kolob. I know here in America we’re rightfully trained to be respectful of everyone’s bat-shit-crazy theories on where we come from, and I’m not suggesting we stop being tolerant. What I’m suggesting is that Mormonism is a uniquely American fairy tale, and therefore to the rest of the world, who have been believing in much, much older mythologies for much, much longer time, we’ll just have elected the latest snake oil salesman in a long line of snake oil salesmen.

#4. The 47% Video

What kind of idiotic populace votes for a guy who was caught on tape taking a massive dump all over half them? And to add insult to injury, it’s a sure-fire bet that among that 47% of people upon which Mitt heaped everything that’s wrong with this country, are some of his very supporters. The world will point and laugh at the fact that we willingly elected someone who disrespected half of us before he was sworn in.

snip//

#1. Didn’t Learn Our Lesson The Last Time

This is probably the most damning and laughable of all the items on the list, even more so than Birtherism’s stink. It’s easy to say that still just a fringe element of the GOP believes the Kenyan Socialist bullshit, but Romney winning would signal to the rest of the world that eight years of endless wars, dangerously low taxes and socially oppressive policies wasn’t enough for Americans to learn their lesson. Half our country sidled back up the bar and ordered a double-shot of trickle down with an austerity chaser. Bull-headed as Republicans are, they will gladly drag us kicking and screaming back into the Bush era, and the other civilized nations in the world will have no choice but to shake their heads and laugh at our massive failure to learn from our own mistakes.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. My friends in the UK and Australia are taking a deep breath

their fingers are crossed that Romney doesn't win.

He is NOT liked in the UK.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

2. The mental picture of all those balls

rolling around the planet is too hilarious!

[patrice]

3. Americans should stop & think about #4: if you tell a guy who disrespects you that it's okay, what

happens?

He takes it as license to abuse you even more and then that sets a precedent for more and worse abuse.

[babylonsister]

5. Great point, Patrice. Yet the sheeple bleat their approval for him.

Difficult to fathom.

[Ebadlun]

4. We will cry

2004 was bad enough, don't put us through it again.

[jenw2]

6. This "inter-stellar kingdom" part is not true

He has talked about God telliming him that he will get his own planet. I have never heard Romney talk about having more than one planet in separate solar systems. I just did a search on Google, and I found nothing about Romney thinking he has more than one planet.

[babylonsister]

7. Don't you think the fact that he thinks he will 'get his own planet' a bit weird? nt

[jenw2]

8. It's wierd, but a planet can only be in one solar system at a time

That's basic science.

[defacto7]

9. and Mormonism is science! right?

[jenw2]

10. Is it the Mormons that are using the term interstellar?

to describe their intrastellar empires that they claim they are entitled to? I thought it was someone that didn't understand the Mormon beliefs.

[defacto7]

13. understood... I'm just saying it's all fantasy.

I have a hard time putting the word science in the same context as fantasy and religion.

[babylonsister]

11. ...

According to this section of LDS scripture, the afterlife consists of three degrees or kingdoms of glory, called the Celestial Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom, and the Telestial Kingdom.
.....
The three degrees of glory are described in Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. In the preface to Section 76 in the LDS edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the following explanatory text is given:

A vision given to Joseph Smith the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon, at Hiram, Ohio, February 16, 1832. Prefacing his record of this vision the Prophet wrote: "Upon my return from Amherst conference, I resumed the translation of the Scriptures. From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of man had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled. It appeared self-evident from what truths were left, that if God rewarded every one according to the deeds done in the body, the term 'Heaven,' as intended for the Saints' eternal home, must include more kingdoms than one. Accordingly, while translating St. John's Gospel, myself and Elder Rigdon saw the following vision." It was after the Prophet had translated John 5:29 that this vision was given.[1]

I imagine this is what the author of the OP was talking about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_glory

[pink]

12. A poll was recently taken in Australia

and if it was only us voting in the upcoming election, Obama would win by more than 75% of the votes.

Coming from Australia, I'm fortunate to miss all the political advertising. Could you please tell me if there has been a lot of emphasis on Romney being a dog-hater. If he did to his dog in Australia what he did there, I would like to believe that he would have gotten a hefty jail sentence.

Also, was it Paul Ryan or Willard Romney that took his 10 year old daughter out to show her how to shoot Bambi?

[area51]

15. Paul Ryan. I think Romney has only sons. n/t

[davidpdx]

14. I replied to someone on Facebook the other day

And told the person that I'm fucking sick and tired of the assbackwards jackasses hijacking our country. This is exactly what will happen if Romney wins. I don't he will though.

[AmandaInAustin]

16. Who will pay for and Judge Rape-created Pregnancy, Republicans? What a joke!

Republicans: Let's Get Real About Abortions Article pointing out that there is no explanation for who pays to raise a rapist's baby when abortion is banned, etc...One more reason why women, please act today to build Obama's volunteer base by reposting the Volunteer call at the bottom of this article: *Article from Cnn.com:

"When Richard Mourdock delivered his notorious answer about rape and abortion, I was sorry that the debate moderator failed to follow up with the next question:
"OK, Mr. Mourdock, you say your principles require a raped woman to carry the rapist's child to term. That's a heavy burden to impose on someone. What would you do for her in return? Would you pay her medical expenses? Compensate her for time lost to work? Would you pay for the child's upbringing? College education?

"If a woman has her credit card stolen, her maximum liability under federal law is $50. Yet on your theory, if she is raped, she must endure not only the trauma of assault, but also accept economic costs of potentially many thousands of dollars. Must that burden also fall on her alone? When we used to draft men into the Army, we gave them veterans' benefits afterward. If the state now intends to conscript women into involuntary childbearing, surely those women deserve at least an equally generous deal?"

That question sounds argumentative, and I suppose it is.

David Frum
But there's a serious point here, and it extends well beyond the anguishing question of sexual assault.
If you're serious about reducing abortion, the most important issue is not which abortions to ban. The most important issue is how will you support women to have the babies they want.
Become a fan of CNNOpinion
Stay up to date on the latest opinion, analysis and conversations through social media. Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion and follow us @CNNOpinion on Twitter. We welcome your ideas and comments.

As a general rule, societies that do the most to support mothers and child-bearing have the fewest abortions. Societies that do the least to support mothers and child-bearing have more abortions.
Germany, for example, operates perhaps the world's plushest welfare state. Working women receive 14 weeks of maternity leave, during which time they receive pay from the state. The state pays a child allowance to the parents of every German child for potentially as many as 25 years, depending on how long as the child remains in school. Women who leave the work force after giving birth receive a replacement wage from the state for up to 14 months.
McCain: Mourdock should say he was wrong Uproar over Mourdock abortion remarks Senate candidate clarifies rape comment

Maybe not coincidentally, Germany has one of the lowest abortion rates, about one-third that of the United States. Yet German abortion laws are not especially restrictive. Abortion is legal during the first trimester of pregnancy and available if medically or psychologically necessary in the later trimesters.
Even here in the United States, where parental benefits are much less generous, abortion responds to economic conditions. In the prosperous 1990s, abortion rates declined rapidly. In the less prosperous '00s, abortion rates declined more slowly. When the economy plunged into crisis in 2008, abortion rates abruptly rose again.
These trends should not surprise anyone. Women choose abortion for one overwhelming reason: economic insecurity. The large majority of women who chose abortion in 2008, 57%, reported a disruptive event in their lives in the previous 12 months: most often, the loss of a job or home.
Obama on Mourdock: Male politicians shouldn't make abortion decisions

Of the women who choose abortion, 58% are in their 20s. Some 61% of them already have a child. Almost 70% of them are poor or near poor.
Three-quarters say they cannot afford another child.
Pro-life and pro-choice debaters delight in presenting each other with exquisitely extreme moral dilemmas: "Would you ban abortion even in case of rape?" "Would you permit abortion even when done only to select the sex of the child?"
These dorm-room hypotheticals do not have very much to do with the realities of abortion in the U.S. and elsewhere.

Here's an interesting example of those realities: The Netherlands has one of the the most liberal abortion laws in the world. Yet for a long time, the Netherlands also reported one of the world's lowest abortion rates. That low incidence abruptly began to rise in the mid-1990s. Between 1996 and 2003, the abortion rate in the Netherlands jumped by 31% over seven years.
What changed? The Guttmacher Institute, the leading source of data on reproductive health worldwide, cites "a growing demand for terminations from women in ethnic minority groups residing in the country." Well over half of all abortions performed on teenagers in the Netherlands are performed on girls of non-Dutch origins.

These girls and women weren't being raped. They weren't selecting for the sex of their child. They chose abortion because they had become sexually active within male-dominated immigrant subcultures in which access to birth control was restricted, in which female sexuality was tightly policed, in which girls who become pregnant outside marriage are disgraced and in which the costs and obligations of childbearing loaded almost entirely on women alone.
Abortion is a product of poverty and maternal distress.
A woman who enjoys the most emotional and financial security and who has chosen the timing of her pregnancy will not choose abortion, even when abortion laws are liberal. A woman who is dominated, who is poor and who fears bearing the child is likely to find an abortion, even where abortion is restricted, as it was across the United States before 1965.
Santorum: Mourdock criticism 'gotcha politics'
So maybe at the next candidates' debate, a journalist will deflect the discussion away from "what if" and instead ask this:

"Rather than tell us what you'd like to ban, tell us please what you think government should do to support more happy and healthy childbearing, to reduce unwanted pregnancies and to alleviate the economic anxieties of mothers-to-be?"
Those are the questions that make the difference. It's amazing how little we talk about them.

Article by David Frum and is linked at: http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/29/opinion/frum-abortion-reality/index.html?iphoneemail

[AmandaInAustin]

17. Romney's Latest Lie, His Former Lies, and Why We Must Not Put Liars in the White House

Romney's Latest Lie, His Former Lies, and Why We Must Not Put Liars in the White House by Robert Reich *Please Repost!
*****
* Link by Robert Reich to article:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/romney-campaign-lies_b_2045745.html


"Over the weekend, Romney debuted an ad in Ohio sho
wing cars being crushed as a narrator says Obama "sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job."
In fact, Chrysler is retaining and expanding its Jeep production in North America, including in Ohio. Its profits have enabled it to separately consider expanding into China, the world's largest auto market.
Responding to the ad, Chrysler emphasized in a blog post that it has "no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China."
"They are inviting a false inference," says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on political advertising.
This is only the most recent in a stream of lies from Romney. Remember his contention that the President planned to "rob" Medicare of $716 billion when in fact the money would come from reduced payments to providers who were overcharging -- thereby extending the life of Medicare? (Ryan's plan includes the same $716 billion of savings but gets it from turning Medicare into a voucher and shifting rising health-care costs on to seniors.)
Remember Romney's claim that Obama removed the work requirement from the welfare law, when in fact Obama merely allowed governors to fashion harder or broader work requirements?
Recall Romney's assertion that he is not planning to give the rich a tax cut of almost $5 trillion, when in fact that's exactly what his budget plan does? Or that his budget will reduce the long-term budget deficit, when in fact his numbers don't add up?
And so on. "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers," says Neil Newhouse, a Romney pollster.
There are two lessons here. First, lies financed by deep pockets are hard to refute, but they must be refuted. Otherwise, there is no accountability in our democracy.
Second, anyone who tells or countenances such lies cannot be trusted to hold the highest office in our land, because he has no compunctions about feeding false information to the public.
********************
*
Link by Robert Reich to article:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/romney-campaign-lies_b_2045745.html

[AmandaInAustin]

18. Mitt Romney's Top 10 Ways to Say "No, I Can't"

Mitt Romney's Top 10 Ways to Say "No, I Can't"
President Obama rode into office in 2008 on the slogan of "Yes we can." In 2012, Mitt Romney is campaigning on a slogan of "No we can't." Governor Romney criticizes President Obama for his message of hope, change and moving the country forward. Romney's replacement message is one of negativity. Here are the top ten ways that Romney says "No We Can't":
No to Obamacare and universal health care coverage: Romney proudly says that his first act, if elected president, will be to eliminate health coverage for over 30 million uninsured Americans, young adults who can stay of their parents' coverage until 26 and for children and adults who are denied coverage due to pre-existing illnesses. He will leave in its place, the option of going to hospital emergency rooms to seek treatment.
No to a woman's right to choose her reproductive rights: A Romney presidency supports policies which would ban abortions even in cases of incest and rape. And Romney pledged to "get rid of Planned Parenthood" too.
No to the U.S. automobile industry bailout: Romney said "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."Romney would have left millions out of work who rely on the automobile industry such as assembly line workers, car dealers, mechanics, auto parts suppliers, engineers and all who support the auto industry across the country.
No to small business growth: When Romney was governor, Massachusetts was almost dead last in small business growth. Massachusetts ranked at the very bottom at 48 out of 50 states.
No to Medicare System: Romney wants to replace the current Medicare system with vouchers which will not keep pace with seniors' rising health costs and limit future seniors' health choices.
No to Medicaid: Romney will say no to entitlement programs such as Medicaid for families who receive assistance for children with autism, Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy and for those with parents and grandparents with Alzheimer's and dementia living at nursing homes. Our most vulnerable citizens are our youth and our seniors. And the most vulnerable within those two groups are the mentally challenged.
No to increasing tax rates on millionaires: Romney will not increase tax rates on millionaires even to help our struggling economy or to lower the deficit. He prefers to protect the pocketbooks of millionaires rather than help the middle class and lower the deficit.
No to Lilly Ledbetter Act: Romney said no comment to the Lilly Ledbetter equal pay act for women. And for now, he says he will not repeal it, if elected president. Apparently, Romney prefers concessions for women to allow them to leave work early to prepare dinner, as he did for one of his senior staffers while governor of Massachusetts, rather than equal pay. Most women prefer equal pay for equal work over preparing dinner.
No to gun control: During the second presidential debate, Romney inferred the cause of gun violence has to do with young single mothers raising children. The gun control issue and assault rifle shootings at malls, movie theaters and schools have nothing to do with single parenthood. But, I guess it's easier to blame single parents and mothers than face the National Rifle Association.
No to increasing Pell grants for students: Romney expects students to borrow money from their parents to pay for a college education, like his millionaire friends do.
Mitt Romney does say yes to a few things. Romney says yes to send our jobs to China; yes to helping millionaires to stay rich with lower tax rates and yes to a plan to take America backwards. If those things are important to you, then vote for Mitt Romney.
If you are not trying to get a job in China and want to move our country forward, then vote for President Obama. The choice is that clear.
Article by Debbie Hines on the Huffington Post, Linked at: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debbie-hines/mitt-romneys-top-10-ways_b_2017764.html

[AmandaInAustin]

19. Bloomberg cites Global Warming in Endorsing Obama

Republican NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg cites Pres. Obama’s pro-active approach to climate change as a reason for his endorsement. (Excerpt from the 11/2/12 Tampa Bay Times)
“When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want to leave my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us there. The two parties' nominees for president offer different visions of where they want to lead America.
One believes a woman's right to choose should be protected for future generations; one does not. That difference, given the likelihood of Supreme Court vacancies, weighs heavily on my decision.
One recognizes marriage equality as consistent with America's march of freedom; one does not. I want our president to be on the right side of history.
One sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet; one does not. I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics.
Michael R. Bloomberg is mayor of New York and founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP
**More or the article
The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the Northeast — in lost lives, lost homes and lost business — brought the stakes of Tuesday's presidential election into sharp relief.
The floods and fires that swept through our city left a path of destruction that will require years of recovery and rebuilding work. And in the short term, our subway system remains partially shut down, and many city residents and businesses still have no power. In just 14 months, two hurricanes have forced us to evacuate neighborhoods — something our city government had never done before. If this is a trend, it is simply not sustainable.
Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be — given this week's devastation — should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.
Here in New York, our comprehensive sustainability plan has helped allow us to cut our carbon footprint by 16 percent in just five years, which is the equivalent of eliminating the carbon footprint of a city twice the size of Seattle. Through the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group — a partnership among many of the world's largest cities — local governments are taking action where national governments are not.
But we can't do it alone. We need leadership from the White House — and over the past four years, President Barack Obama has taken major steps to reduce our carbon consumption, including setting higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks. His administration also has adopted tighter controls on mercury emissions, which will help to close the dirtiest coal power plants (an effort I have supported through my philanthropy), which are estimated to kill 13,000 Americans a year.
Mitt Romney, too, has a history of tackling climate change. As governor of Massachusetts, he signed on to a regional cap-and-trade plan designed to reduce carbon emissions 10 percent below 1990 levels. But since then, he has reversed course, abandoning the very cap-and-trade program he once supported. This issue is too important. We need determined leadership at the national level to move the nation and the world forward.
In the past Romney has also taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and health care. But he has reversed course on all of them, and is even running against the health care model he signed into law in Massachusetts.
If the 1994 or 2003 version of Mitt Romney were running for president, I may well have voted for him because, like so many other independents, I have found the past four years to be, in a word, disappointing.
In 2008, Obama ran as a pragmatic problem-solver and consensus-builder. But as president, he devoted little time and effort to developing and sustaining a coalition of centrists, which doomed hope for any real progress on illegal guns, immigration, tax reform, job creation and deficit reduction.
Nevertheless, the president has achieved some important victories on issues that will help define our future. His Race to the Top education program — much of which was opposed by the teachers' unions, a traditional Democratic Party constituency — has helped drive badly needed reform across the country, giving local districts leverage to strengthen accountability in the classroom and expand charter schools. His health care law — for all its flaws — will provide insurance coverage to people who need it most and save lives.
When I step into the voting booth, I think about the world I want to leave my two daughters, and the values that are required to guide us there. The two parties' nominees for president offer different visions of where they want to lead America.
One believes a woman's right to choose should be protected for future generations; one does not. That difference, given the likelihood of Supreme Court vacancies, weighs heavily on my decision.
One recognizes marriage equality as consistent with America's march of freedom; one does not. I want our president to be on the right side of history.
One sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet; one does not. I want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics.
Of course, neither candidate has specified what hard decisions he will make to get our economy back on track while also balancing the budget. But in the end, what matters most isn't the shape of any particular proposal; it's the work that must be done to bring members of Congress together to achieve bipartisan solutions.
Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both found success while their parties were out of power in Congress — and President Obama can, too. If he listens to people on both sides of the aisle, and builds the trust of moderates, he can fulfill the hope he inspired four years ago and lead our country toward a better future for my children and yours. And that's why I will be voting for him.
Article Link: http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/michael-bloomberg-why-im-voting-for-the-president/1259391

[RBInMaine]

20. The MittTwit is GOING DOWN, so NO WORRIES. MOOT point.