US Town Hall Debate |OT| When is the election? What are the names of the candidates?

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So whats happened to the great orator of our times from 2008?

Basically what I heard on national radio here in Aus on way home from work:

"Meanwhile in the US the second presidential debate has been held with another landslide victory for republican candidate Mitt Romney".
 
So whats happened to the great orator of our times from 2008?

Basically what I heard on national radio here in Aus on way home from work:

"Meanwhile in the US the second presidential debate has been held with another landslide victory for republican candidate Mitt Romney".
Did they also say "black is white" and "up is down"?
 
I've seen a lot tumblrs and twitter posts on things like lady binders, that Libya terrorism comment and the "I'm still speaking" moment, but what I do hope also doesn't get lost in the deluge of Romneyisms, is Romney's awesome answer when CC asked if his tax plan's numbers add up. The answer to which, was "of course they do", and immediately not bothering to answer HOW it that would work.
 
So whats happened to the great orator of our times from 2008?

Basically what I heard on national radio here in Aus on way home from work:

"Meanwhile in the US the second presidential debate has been held with another landslide victory for republican candidate Mitt Romney".

Lol, ABC getting syndication from American ABC or what
 
I've seen a lot tumblrs and twitter posts on things like lady binders, that Libya terrorism comment and the "I'm still speaking" moment, but what I do hope also doesn't get lost in the deluge of Romneyisms, is Romney's awesome answer when CC asked if his tax plan's numbers add up. The answer to which, was "of course they do", and immediately not bothering to answer HOW it that would work.

Actually, this is how it played out:

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, let me get — let me get the governor in on this.

And Governor, let’s — before we get into a vast array of who said what — what study says what, if it shouldn’t add up, if somehow when you get in there, there isn’t enough tax revenue coming in, if somehow the numbers don’t add up, would you be willing to look again at a 20 percent —

MR. ROMNEY: Well, of course they add up. I was — I was someone who ran businesses for 25 years and balanced the budget. I ran the Olympics and balanced the budget. I ran the — the state of Massachusetts as a governor, to the extent any governor does, and balanced the budget all four years.

"What if they don't add up when you try to do it?"

"BUT THEY DO ADD UP, TRUST ME. I R BUSINESS MAN. I ALSO HAVE A MONORAIL TO SELL TOO. WHO WANTS ONE?"
 
Actually, this is how it played out:



"What if they don't add up when you try to do it?"

"BUT THEY DO ADD UP, TRUST ME. I R BUSINESS MAN. I ALSO HAVE A MONORAIL TO SELL TOO. WHO WANTS ONE?"



Oh my god, its crazy... You can see Republican Vision In Full effect here. Wow. I'm almost glad I missed Halley's comet. I wouldn't appreciate this as much..

I've seen a lot tumblrs and twitter posts on things like lady binders, that Libya terrorism comment and the "I'm still speaking" moment, but what I do hope also doesn't get lost in the deluge of Romneyisms, is Romney's awesome answer when CC asked if his tax plan's numbers add up. The answer to which, was "of course they do", and immediately not bothering to answer HOW it that would work.

MS. CROWLEY: Mr. President, let me get — let me get the governor in on this.

And Governor, let’s — before we get into a vast array of who said what — what study says what, if it shouldn’t add up, if somehow when you get in there, there isn’t enough tax revenue coming in, if somehow the numbers don’t add up, would you be willing to look again at a 20 percent —

MR. ROMNEY: Well, of course they add up. I was — I was someone who ran businesses for 25 years and balanced the budget. I ran the Olympics and balanced the budget. I ran the — the state of Massachusetts as a governor, to the extent any governor does, and balanced the budget all four years.
 
Actually, this is how it played out:



"What if they don't add up when you try to do it?"

"BUT THEY DO ADD UP, TRUST ME. I R BUSINESS MAN. I ALSO HAVE A MONORAIL TO SELL TOO. WHO WANTS ONE?"

Ah yes, thank you.

I really do hope that doesn't get ignored.
 
So whats happened to the great orator of our times from 2008?

Basically what I heard on national radio here in Aus on way home from work:

"Meanwhile in the US the second presidential debate has been held with another landslide victory for republican candidate Mitt Romney".
I'm going to guess Rupert Murdoch owns your national radio, too?
 
So whats happened to the great orator of our times from 2008?

Basically what I heard on national radio here in Aus on way home from work:

"Meanwhile in the US the second presidential debate has been held with another landslide victory for republican candidate Mitt Romney".

ABC often panders toward 'balanced' narratives to avoid left-wing appraisal. News Corp is News Corp. Fairfax is almost dead. Commercial TV stations play the same scaremongering muck on a loop year-upon-year for ratings. Our great and glorious media. :(
 
ABC often panders toward 'balanced' narratives to avoid left-wing appraisal. News Corp is News Corp. Fairfax is almost dead. Commercial TV stations play the same scaremongering muck on a loop year-upon-year for ratings. Our great and glorious media. :(

I have no idea why they do it.
 
Just woke up, looking for some snap polls, seeing a lot of "Obama crushed it but this isn't the first debate so it doesn't matter" type things, here and elsewhere.

538 had a piece up a couple days ago, second debate moves the polls as much as the first historically, but the third one is generally seen as less important.

ABC often panders toward 'balanced' narratives to avoid left-wing appraisal. News Corp is News Corp. Fairfax is almost dead. Commercial TV stations play the same scaremongering muck on a loop year-upon-year for ratings. Our great and glorious media. :(

It's a documented tactic and the entire point of this "lamestream media" thing they've been driving for 20 years (forcing media to give everything a 50/50 split is a huge bias). I saw a post on Facebook saying Crowley should never have fact-checked Romney and I replied with a question; if A says the sky is blue and B says it is red, and the moderator points out that yes, indeed the sky is blue, is that moderator biased? This guy says yes, it's up to the voters to decide whom they agree with, even in factual, mutually-exclusive matters.
 
"black is white"?
An analog.

a couple examples of more or less saying "it's Opposite Day"

The "up is down" one alluding to the fact that Australia is referred to as "down under" and is stereotyped as being backwards or upside down, which him saying Romney won in a landslide plays right into, since it is pretty much the opposite of what happened.

Have I explained it enough now? Holy mother of fuck.
 
I wish the president would've responded about the Fast & Furious operation, but I'm not surprised it was quickly forgotten.

Other then that it was very much as expected.
 
I don't appreciate how Obama mentioned Germany as a threat to the US economy and its job market. What was that list, "China, India, Germany"?
 
I don't appreciate how Obama mentioned Germany as a threat to the US economy and its job market. What was that list, "China, India, Germany"?

Huh? The president never claimed Germany was a threat. He was referring to outsourcing which is not an attack against that country.


"And it's estimated that that will create 800,000 new jobs. The problem is they'll be in china. Or India. Or Germany."

...

"And if we are only thinking about tomorrow or the next day and not thinking about 10 years from now, we're not going to control our own economic future. Because China, Germany, they're making these investments. And I'm not going to cede those jobs of the future to those countries. "
 
Romney doesn't have a clue why businesses outsource, he says they do it because "it's attractive" but not why it's attractive - and then Obama explains it.
 
Healthcare
Band aid on a larger problem.
metalslimer said:
He didn't want to pull out, the Iraqi government forced him.
metalslimer said:
Apparently hadn't been involved in Taliban activities since 9/11. Also, instead of a trial, they killed him. Godwin's Law: even Nazis got a trial.
metalslimer said:
gay rights
Still BS his opinion had to "evolve". Still though, his administration did refuse to defend DADT, so he deserves credit for that.
metalslimer said:
If you expected him to wave a magic fairy wand than sure you can be disappointed. There are legitimate issues to worry about like prisoner rights which he's been a huge disappointment on, but outside of that he's stuck to exactly what he said he would do.
Across the World

Obama has escalated most of George W. Bush’s wars. The US has troops in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, a new American military force on the African continent. He has continued to arm Israel while it robs even more Palestinian lands of life and homes.
Obama has threatened, and enacted, new illegal wars on other nations. He violated the War Powers Act to launch a sustained war on Libya. He looks the other way while the brutal Saudi Arabian dictatorship foments civil war in Syria. He refuses to rule out war, including use of nuclear weapons, against Iran.

Obama supports dictators and military coups against elected governments across the world. He recognized and arms the military coup governments in Honduras and the Maldives, and the “constitutional” coup in Paraguay. He arms the Saudi Arabian monarchy as they brutally suppress their own people while invading Bahrain to support that dictatorship’s crushing of its pro-democracy movement.

He sends troops to subjugate countries that don’t want them there. U.S. troops are an intimidation force in 130 countries, violating the wishes of the vast majority of most nations.

Obama’s drone attacks far exceed those of George W. Bush. Obama’s “Enemies List” of people to kill abroad and their subsequent assassinations represent an escalation on Bush’s “extraordinary renditions” of people to torture chambers run by U.S. secret forces and U.S.-allied dictators.

Across the United States

Obama neglects the urgent needs of the 99% at home and abroad while spending a record amount on the military. He enthusiastically supports the world’s largest-ever military alliance, NATO, while spending 67% of the federal budget on current and past wars. He spends as much on the U.S. military as the rest of the world combined, while half the world’s people live on less than $2 a day.

Obama promoted the 1% in finance and other big businesses, while barely lifting a finger for the 99%. He and the Bush administration gave trillions to bail out Wall Street, and stuffed his administration full of many of the leading crooks who precipitated the financial meltdown in the first place. While he makes campaign gestures towards the 99% now that his own job is on the line, where has he been for the last three-and-a-half years?

He has silently watched as Republican governors have attacked public workers’ rights, and through his “Education” Secretary, has attacked teachers’ unions more vigorously than any president before him.

During the 2008 campaign, he and Secretary of State Clinton both pledged to at least modify, if not repeal, NAFTA. In the last three-and-a-half years, he has not.

Obama promised to make it easier for workers to democratically decide to form unions by signing “card check. He didn’t.

Obama has escalated George Bush’s attacks on civil liberties, increasing Bush’s surveillance inside the country, persecuting whistle blowers like Bradley Manning and his supporters, while taking a pass on prosecuting Bush administration officials who ordered torture and launched wars that killed countless thousands of people. He has reauthorized the PATRIOT Act when he pledged to oppose it. He, as a former constitutional law scholar at the University of Chicago, has helped destroy habeas corpus, the right by which people cannot by imprisoned without charges or trials, by signing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Obama poses as a friend of immigrants after his administration has deported more undocumented people from the United States than any president since Herbert Hoover.
Obama’s recent executive order stopping deportations of children of the undocumented was an election year gimmick that offers no path to citizenship, and was only conceded after doing far greater harm against immigrants than even the preceding Bush administration.

He has used LGBT rights like a political football, supporting equal marriage rights early in his career, then opposing it. After doing nothing to oppose the anti-gay constitutional amendment in North Carolina, he endorsed gay marriage, but at the same time endorsed a bogus “state’s rights” approach to the issue. But it was the Democrats who gave us the Defense of Marriage Act in the first place, which he refused to repeal when his party held both houses of Congress. And Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – again a product of the Democrats – was only repealed when a gay Log Cabin Republican suit, opposed by Obama, looked set to overturn the policy.

By endorsing corporate attacks on the environment at practically every turn, Obama has enabled the Republicans to create even more anti-environmental policies.

Cap-and-trade is a rightwing fantasy under Republican administrations. To be clear, in Cap-and-trade systems, also known as allowance trading, can be best summed up as “pollution credits.” What happens is that overall air quality goals are set for an area (such as the entire nation) and specific sources of air pollution (such as power plants, waste incineration facilities, etc.) are given a certain number of allowances, which represent the amount of various pollutants that the organization or facility is allowed to emit. Facilities that come in under that allowable limit because of air pollution control systems can then sell their leftover allowances to other facilities and organizations on the open market. This allows the facilities that buy up such allowances (pollution credits) to pollute more, because other facilities are polluting less. Obama touts cap-and-trade as mainstream.

Despite weeks of high-profile protests, Obama opened the door to the Keystone oil pipeline, which has created the Alberta Tar Sands and the destruction of a boreal forest the size of Texas.

Obama’s support of natural gas drilling, “fracking,” is evident as its use has expanded greatly under his EPA. Obama has yet to disclose or require disclosure of the toxic chemicals utilized. In Obama’s eagerness to shill for corporate interests, he’s pushing for the new first nuclear power plants in a generation

The BP oil disaster in the Gulf was preceded just a few weeks earlier by Obama’s announced opening up of huge areas of the eastern seaboard to drilling.
 
noones gonna read all that.. However from some of what youre saying I think you are blaming Obama for not doing things he has no power to do. remember everything has to go through congress which being mostly republican has blocked Obama on just about everything. Meaning a large amount of shit he wants to get done has been stopped or he has had to compromise on alot of shit to get some of his shit done.

Though I agree with you on military. Both parties seem to give the military a blank check and act like its the most important thing for the government which seems like somewhat of an outdated attitude for 2012. I cant imagine why soo much money goes into what ultimately seems like a large waste. I dont think any middle eastern country is really ever going to strike US. Wasn't 911 caused by 8 lucky terrorists who found an overlooked flaw in flight security? Doesn't require trillions of dollars of military action to prevent this. Maybe thats just me, i dunno..
 
*List of stuff
You should cite things you didn't write yourself. I'd agree with portions of it but others are pretty simplified and gloss over political realities which can't be separated from the the actions the president takes. Think this is a case where some of the criticisms are valid in a unrealistic vacuum.
 
You should cite things you didn't write yourself. I'd agree with portions of it but others are pretty simplified and gloss over political realities which can't be separated from the the actions the president takes. Think this is a case where some of the criticisms are valid in a unrealistic vacuum.

Pretty much. I hate the guy for all the above reasons, but its not as if some Beyond Wealthy Banker is going to reverse all of that, or any politician for that matter.

Obama made me facepalm w/Guantanamo. I know there were a few other things that were out of his control, but don't say it ya know? Still a blemish.
 
Just started watching this, only got about 5 minutes in and had to pause to say how awkward the whole walking about and talking to the kid that gave the question seems.
 
Believe it or not, nice article from Verge on the China vs US thing. I think Obama's answer was brutally honest and quite poignant. Highlights another of the stark differences between the two.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/17/3515264/mitt-romney-barack-obama-apple-china-debate-video

The Verge said:
Tuesday night's feisty presidential debate covered largely familiar ground, as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney traded jabs over hot-button issues such as immigration, tax plans, and foreign policy. The discourse became more pointed toward the end, however, when moderator Candy Crowley confronted both candidates about the outsourcing of tech manufacturing jobs.

"iPad, the Macs, the iPhones, they are all manufactured in China," Crowley said, citing low labor costs as a primary driver. "How do you convince a great American company to bring that manufacturing back here?"

Romney, taking the floor first, responded with the following:

"The answer is very straightforward. We can compete with anyone in the world as long as the playing field is level. China's been cheating over the years. One, by holding down the value of their currency. Two, by stealing our intellectual property, our designs, our patents, our technology — there's even an Apple store in China that's a counterfeit Apple Store, selling counterfeit goods. They hack into our computers. We will have to have people play on a fair basis, that's number one. Number two, we have to make America the most attractive place for entrepreneurs, for people who want to expand their business. That's what brings jobs in".

Obama, in rebuttal, was surprisingly blunt, effectively dismissing the premise altogether:

"Candy, there are some jobs that are not going to come back," he said. "Because they are low wage, low skill jobs. I want high wage, high skill jobs. That's why we have to emphasize manufacturing. That's why we have to invest in advanced manufacturing. That's why we've got to make sure that we've got the best science and research in the world."
Turning the issue into a springboard, the president then made his case for greater government involvement, arguing that investments in research and science are critical to creating "the next Apple" here in the US. "If we're not training engineers to make sure that they are equipped here in this country, then companies won't come here," Obama explained. "Those investments are what's going to help to make sure that we continue to lead this world economy, not just next year, but 10 years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now."

FOR ROMNEY, THE SOLUTION BEGINS WITH CHINA. FOR OBAMA, IT BEGINS AT HOME.

Within the larger context of Tuesday's political opera, this exchange was nothing more than a cadenza — a brief and hurried flourish squeezed into the corner of a TV programming block that precluded either candidate from delving into great detail. But it did expose a telling divergence in philosophy. For Romney, the solution begins with China. For Obama, it begins at home.

Romney's argument certainly didn't offer much in the way of specifics. In fact, it didn't really answer the question. Rather than offer a diagnosis, the Republican challenger instead chose to focus on the symptoms — piracy and, curiously, cyberattacks — while making only a thin reference to making America "attractive for entrepreneurs." Implicit to his answer, however, was the belief that the US truly can bring tech manufacturing jobs back home, once it "levels the playing field."

It's certainly not outrageous to assume that an American tech firm would bring manufacturing back to the States; Google tried to do just that with the Nexus Q before ultimately aborting the project. In response, though, Obama painted Romney's approach as almost archaic. Echoing what Steve Jobs reportedly told him last February, Obama argued that it's too late to turn the economic tide, and called upon the US to look inward at its own industries and infrastructure, rather than point its finger at China. On Tuesday night, the president asked Americans to accept what he sees as a hard reality, and to invest in a drastically different future.

SOURCE
 
Just woke up, looking for some snap polls, seeing a lot of "Obama crushed it but this isn't the first debate so it doesn't matter" type things, here and elsewhere.

Go back a few pages, PPP/CBS/Google/a few others all had snap polls giving it to Obama. Before the night ended CNN also gave it to Obama, and FOX News said Obama won from several of their pundits
 
Pretty much. I hate the guy for all the above reasons, but its not as if some Beyond Wealthy Banker is going to reverse all of that, or any politician for that matter.

Obama made me facepalm w/Guantanamo. I know there were a few other things that were out of his control, but don't say it ya know? Still a blemish.
Yeah the civil liberties, finance, and drone strike stuff are definitely points I can understand for example. But it's like whoever wrote that had this notion that he could have been champion of all things left as he rolled into a terrible recession. Some of that shit they want just goes right out the window. Like he's going to turn into gay rights champion and be Mr. Environment while everybody else is going insane over the debt and economy and gas prices, and we can't even get congress to entertain a public option in health care. Not realistic.
 
So, according to Romney, government doesn't create jobs. Is that his belief? Is this something that we should expect when he takes office? To cut jobs from the government?
 
So, according to Romney, government doesn't create jobs. Is that his belief? Is this something that we should expect when he takes office? To cut jobs from the government?

No, a central tenant of the conservative party is that government should keep its hand out of the private sector and job creation. In a round about way he's claiming by scaling back government involvement that the economy will right itself.
 
So, according to Romney, government doesn't create jobs. Is that his belief? Is this something that we should expect when he takes office? To cut jobs from the government?

This is actually a common Republican belief. It's not really surprising. Most hardcore conservatives I know believe this.
 
No, a central tenant of the conservative party is that government should keep its hand out of the private sector and job creation. In a round about way he's claiming by scaling back government involvement that the economy will right itself.

I should have expanded more on my post, but things like education and roads. Does he want to stop the government from funding these, and just move them completely to the private sector? I am having a hard time trying to comprehend what he is trying to say. I am probably looking too deep into it.
 
I should have expanded more on my post, but things like education and roads. Does he want to stop the government from funding these, and just move them completely to the private sector? I am having a hard time trying to comprehend what he is trying to say. I am probably looking too deep into it.

Honestly, I have to claim ignorance on this. I really don't know.
 
I should have expanded more on my post, but things like education and roads. Does he want to stop the government from funding these, and just move them completely to the private sector? I am having a hard time trying to comprehend what he is trying to say. I am probably looking too deep into it.

Does he want to? Yes. Will he? Almost certainly not, although I have no doubt that he'll damage them in some way
 
I should have expanded more on my post, but things like education and roads. Does he want to stop the government from funding these, and just move them completely to the private sector? I am having a hard time trying to comprehend what he is trying to say. I am probably looking too deep into it.

You are. Dont try to make sense of something that doesnt make any sense
 
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Mission Accomplished
 
It was such an awkward, off handed remark. It really took me by surprise, and didn't make any sense.

He's said before that he doesn't like government jobs (see the famous "the American people have spoken, we don't want more teachers, more firefighter") but that could just be him pandering again
 
This is actually a common Republican belief. It's not really surprising. Most hardcore conservatives I know believe this.
Duh the military isn't a government created job. It's an American America job. Which is why when he'll raise military spending he'll be increasing Americana by 2bn. Not creating government jobs.
 
I loathe the fact that a lot of the ignorant people in this country don't consider military personnel to be government employees. The military is by far the largest socialist institution we have in this country.
 
I should have expanded more on my post, but things like education and roads. Does he want to stop the government from funding these, and just move them completely to the private sector? I am having a hard time trying to comprehend what he is trying to say. I am probably looking too deep into it.

You have it correct. To most Repubs, govt is THE problem, and the private sector can do evertyhing better and cheaper.
 
I loathe the fact that a lot of the ignorant people in this country don't consider military personnel to be government employees.

Probably...that's why this is so funny to me. Democrats will move the money over here, and Republicans will move the money over there. From a financial standpoint you pick and choose where you want it to go, we're screwed either way. That's why I don't blame people for voting for social issues at all.

I'm really surprised Romney isn't focusing more on that. He needs to motivate his base, but he's pandering for votes from people split either way. Bush got enough people from his base with the "family values" quip.
 
So, according to Romney, government doesn't create jobs. Is that his belief? Is this something that we should expect when he takes office? To cut jobs from the government?

When Romney says he will create jobs he believes he will create jobs by slashing taxes. Once taxes are slashed, people will hire more employees.
 
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