The Democratic Convention: Thoughts Of Day One
Posted by Michelle Moquin on September 5th, 2012
Good morning!
I first have to give kudos to the first Lady, Michelle Obama. I watched her speech last night and I too was teary eyed, stunned and speechless. She captivated me, inspired me, left me in awe. When the First Lady said “Being president doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are“, both my mother and I said. “Ooh that is good”. I think it was the best line in her speech because the statement itself is so illuminating.
As president Obama had mentioned, I imagined him sitting at home with his girls watching his beautiful, intelligent, passionate wife, his woman, the love of his life, proud with tears in his eyes and deep love for her in his heart and soul.
I was moved by the thought of their love and commitment to each other, their children, and no doubt to our beloved country, wanting and working toward what is best for all. I couldn’t be more proud to witness her grace and greatness. If I haven’t said it before and even if I have, FLOTUS is a Wonderful Woman Of The World.
And yes, the First Lady was simply stunning in her dress.
So what’s up for today? I too saw the headliner of the Huff Po. And although the main title was terrible, (I agree with you Jackie - It is the truth that is “vicious” – since when is telling the truth “vicious”? - ) what was written is well worth the repeat. So I am going to do just that here:
Mitt Romney’s Swiss Bank Account Hammered By Democratic Convention Speakers
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mitt Romney’s Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island investments were hot topics on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, with several leading Democrats hammering the Republican presidential candidate about them in their speeches.
“Mitt Romney has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport,” charged former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in his fiery speech Tuesday night. “It summers on the beaches of the Cayman Islands and winters on the slopes of the Swiss Alps. In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 21, the scriptures teach us that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. My friends, any man who aspires to be our president should keep both his treasure and his heart in the United States of America. And it’s well past time for Mitt Romney to come clean with the American people.”
Romney previously had a Swiss bank account and has millions invested in funds based in the Cayman Islands.
“Instead of safeguarding our seniors, Romney and Ryan would end the guarantee of Medicare and replace it with a voucher in order to give bigger tax breaks to billionaires,” said Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. “Instead of investing in America, they hide their money in Swiss bank accounts and ship our jobs to China. Swiss bank accounts never built an American bridge. Swiss bank accounts don’t put cops on the beat or teachers in our classrooms. Swiss bank accounts never created American jobs!”
“Governor Romney, just because you bank against the United States of America doesn’t mean the rest of us are willing to sell her out,” O’Malley said. “We are Americans.”
Women’s rights advocate Lilly Ledbetter also joined in, noting that women still earn just 77 cents for every dollar men make.
“Maybe 23 cents doesn’t sound like a lot to someone with a Swiss bank account, Cayman Island Investments and an IRA worth tens of millions of dollars,” Ledbetter said. “But Governor Romney, when we lose 23 cents every hour, every day, every paycheck, every job, over our entire lives, what we lose can’t just be measured in dollars.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) continued his attacks on Romney for his refusal to release his more information on his taxes. Romney has released his 2010 tax returns and an estimate for 2011, although he has promised to disclose his 2011 return this fall. He has refused to follow the example of his father and release 12 years of his tax information to the public.
“Never in modern American history has a presidential candidate tried so hard to hide himself from the people he hopes to serve,” Reid said during his speech at the convention. “When you look at the one tax return he has released, it’s obvious why. It’s obvious why there’s only been one. We learned that he pays a lower tax rate than middle class families. We learned he chose Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Islands tax shelters over American institutions. And we can only imagine what new secrets would be revealed if he showed the American people a dozen years of tax returns — like his father did.”
*****
Readers: I’m looking forward to more this evening. Any thoughts on this or anything else that’s on your mind? Thanks for being here. Blog me.
Peace & Love…
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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September 5th, 2012 at 10:42 am
What Your Eye Prescription Says About Your Personality
Posted by Marjory Abrams on Aug. 30, 2012 in Fun Facts
On a recent visit to my eye doctor, I was intrigued to learn that he sees definite personality differences between his nearsighted patients and the farsighted ones.
In his forty years as an optometrist, Robert Maiolo, OD has found that people who are nearsighted are more likely to be analytical and detail oriented. Often they’re teachers, lawyers or doctors. His farsighted patients tend to be more socially and athletically inclined, more apt to be firefighters or police officers or members of the military.
It makes sense when you think about it. A nearsighted child sees fine close up. Reading is no problem, so he or she is generally more engaged at school, pays attention and is a good student. These kids may be a bit shy and introverted and maybe they won’t be star athletes, but chances are they’ll go to college and become a white-collar professional.
Since the farsighted child has trouble reading, he often prefers to put the books away and go out and play. These youngsters tend to have difficulty making out the words on a page, but they usually have no problem seeing a line drive flying out to right field or the arc of a basketball into the net.
Of course, there’s always the exception to any rule. This subject came up because I am very detail oriented despite being very farsighted…and Tiger Woods is nearsighted, yet look at what he accomplished on the golf course.
While your vision has a major influence on you, it certainly doesn’t determine your destiny; only you can do that. Still, knowing this connection just might cause you to look at yourself—and those around you—a bit differently. (That vision thing again!)
September 5th, 2012 at 10:44 am
What Your Eye Prescription Says About Your Personality
On a recent visit to my eye doctor, I was intrigued to learn that he sees definite personality differences between his nearsighted patients and the farsighted ones.
In his forty years as an optometrist, Robert Maiolo, OD has found that people who are nearsighted are more likely to be analytical and detail oriented.
Often they’re teachers, lawyers or doctors. His farsighted patients tend to be more socially and athletically inclined, more apt to be firefighters or police officers or members of the military.
It makes sense when you think about it. A nearsighted child sees fine close up. Reading is no problem, so he or she is generally more engaged at school, pays attention and is a good student.
These kids may be a bit shy and introverted and maybe they won’t be star athletes, but chances are they’ll go to college and become a white-collar professional.
Since the farsighted child has trouble reading, he often prefers to put the books away and go out and play. These youngsters tend to have difficulty making out the words on a page, but they usually have no problem seeing a line drive flying out to right field or the arc of a basketball into the net.
Of course, there’s always the exception to any rule. This subject came up because I am very detail oriented despite being very farsighted…and Tiger Woods is nearsighted, yet look at what he accomplished on the golf course.
While your vision has a major influence on you, it certainly doesn’t determine your destiny; only you can do that. Still, knowing this connection just might cause you to look at yourself—and those around you—a bit differently. (That vision thing again!)
September 5th, 2012 at 10:48 am
I have one single question for the Republicans, which I am one.
What did you ever do in the past four years to make “me” better off ???
If you can’t, I will answer that. Other than sitting on your hands and fighting Obama about everything, NOTHING.
September 5th, 2012 at 10:49 am
The best response I’ve seen was a post on FaceBook. When your conservative friends claim that President Obama has wrecked the economy, remind them that the stock market is up over 13K (twice what it was in 2008) and corporations are experiencing record profits.
When they tell you that this hasn’t helped them at all, remind them that they’ve just admitted that “trickle down” economics doesn’t work.
September 5th, 2012 at 10:52 am
I agree.
I’m a hell of a lot better off than I was before Obama took office. I will never forget that the GOP totally crashed our economy for the second time in a century in almost the same way both times.
I will never forget watching my husband’s and my retirement savings lose over half their value in the space of a few days and I’ll never forget that George W Bush and his GOP Congress were completely responsible for the financial crash and that Obama has turned this thing around.
Obama has done BIG things. Anyone who can’t see that needs to have his or her vision checked. Quit letting bloggers and pundits tell you he hasn’t done enough – he’s done a hell of a lot more than most on the left have given him any credit for.
I am lightyears ahead of where I was when Bush left office.
September 5th, 2012 at 10:52 am
Wow, she’s a winner! She’s got substance and presence, it was a pleasure to listen.
What a true power couple, love it, love what she had to say and AD, let there be another 1,000 years of darkness if this is what we get for the honor(and yes, I believe that’s what Norris meant).
& she totally rocked that gorgie dress! I want it : )
Luv, Zen Lill
September 5th, 2012 at 10:56 am
The question “Are you better off today than you were four years ago” was a bogus question when Ronnie the mouthpiece Reagan asked it and it is a bogus question today.
You have to ad “and why”. Today, if you are not better off, you would have to list the national debt created by two unfunded wars and obscene tax breaks favoring the wealthy among the reasons.
You would have to note that the right, which is making the debt an election issue, refused to let the “temporary” Bush tax cuts expire even though they failed to stimulate the economy.
You would have to follow with the well publicized GOP decision to obstruct every action the Obama administration took govern this country in the hopes of making him a one term President, leaving the voters adrift in a time of economic crisis and war.
You would have to bring up the negative effects of deregulating the Banking industry, you would have to see the GOP’s fingerprints on every aspect of our national problems.
You would vote for President Obama.
September 5th, 2012 at 10:57 am
& ‘signed, sealed, delivered’ sung by the amazing Stevie wonder was a perfect opening! – ZL
September 5th, 2012 at 11:04 am
For Fox and all those that believe the DNC does not believe in God, let me say this. Invoking God’s name over and over again or even the name of Jesus does NOT make you a Christian.
Actually it makes you sound like you are trying to make yourself believe it. Christians are those that live a “Christ-like” life.
In other words being like Jesus, loving your neighbors, treating people they way you want to be treated, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, not making money your god, behing humble. That is what TRUE Christianity is all about.
Ribqah
September 5th, 2012 at 11:40 am
I am sick of hearing at my office that the average white man is worried about the “Debt” that’s why they don’t support Obama. Yeah, and I have a bridge to sell you.
The only “D” the white boy is worried about is the one that starts the spelling of DICK. That’s the four letter word on their minds.
They will not vote for the bigger Dick(debt). They are so intimidated by that black man. So they will vote away their best interest to squash the very thought that a black man can compete intellectually with a white boy.
What will the white boy do if his white woman discovers that with all that talented swinging Dick comes a brain too?
My father is white and my mother is half black. I have so many disturbed white relatives. My three brothers and I have spent 30 plus years of our lives mingling among our relatives listening to them dis our mother and her relatives because of the color of their skins.
Even when they knew that we were the relative of those blacks because we are “so white” they expected us to side with their negative slurs against the other side of our heritage.
My two older brothers have embraced the bigotry and refuse to acknowledge their black relatives. They proclaim that since mother is half white they are three quarters white therefore they are too far away from “that race” to understand them.
How sad for us that we are no longer a family because our two older brothers have been brained washed to believe that color is more important than family.
Dad says his choice of mother got him run out of the South. She was the product of a rape by a white policeman that kept a book on the number of black girls he had raped and impregnated. He would go back and repeatedly rape ones he liked. I said girls because he prayed on black girls as your as 12 years old.
Dad said that he was known for grabbing young black girls, forcing them into the back of his police car and raping them.
My mom is such a beautiful person. You wouldn’t know that she was anything but white but that wasn’t enough for my the relatives on my father’s side, they say “N” blood is “N” blood.
Greg
September 5th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Two of my Republican friends were aghast this morning. They both said that they swelled with pride and that Michelle’s speech even provoked a tear up for the first time in their life from a Democrat.
I am so proud that this wonderful woman is our First Lady and am looking forward to her second term as the spokeswoman for me, and especially my wife, my daughter, my sisters and my female nieces and cousins.
Michelle and Barrack are building pride again here in America! VOTE DEM 2012 and let’s restore America!
September 5th, 2012 at 11:44 am
Loved this when I saw it.
Mr. President tear that Wallstreet down.
September 5th, 2012 at 11:47 am
I’m supposed to support Barack because he’s a ‘good’ guy and that his most prized possession was a table he got in a dump? This after going to an Ivy League school? are you joking? is this what I have to believe? its laughable…
September 5th, 2012 at 11:49 am
I didn’t really plan to watch any of the speeches. I watched a few last week and was pretty bored. I was very positively effected by Deval Patrick’s speech so decided to watch a bit longer.
I watched Julian Castro’s speech and really enjoyed listening no just to the message but what his admin is doing with pre-K education. I decided to watch the First Lady’s speech. The video and speech were brilliant.
Man, what a clear difference between the narrative of this convention and last week’s. I know Romney is better for me personally as I have been very fortunate. No question the current President is better for the nation.
September 5th, 2012 at 11:51 am
Dan:
Did you read Greg’s post?
Look down. The real joke is in your pants.
September 5th, 2012 at 11:52 am
Andy, Remember, Obama CHOSE to forego potentially lucrative job offers to work as a community organizer for a few years, with little income.
Then he went back and earned the big bucks. But that’s not why you should support him. Read his budgets, the ACA, the CBO review of the Ryan budget, the Republican platform, and the Democratic platform.
If you can’t find the reasons there, your mind is already made up and you might as well tune out until election day.
September 5th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Andy, It’s not just the President, but the intent of the people who follow him. Moving forward for the betterment of ALL Americans, not just an economically advantaged few.
September 5th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Dan, clearly you missed the point about the table and it’s intent to demonstrate his values and how he pursued living them out and continues that process as a man and as POTUS. Your type is very typical, you stand staring at the fingertip instead of where it’s pointing.
good luck with that…ZL
September 5th, 2012 at 11:57 am
A reminder to latino voters and immigrants. The GOP still spits on the ground when REAGAN is mentioned because of his amesty program. George W. Bush and GOV. Perry were attacked for even bringing up the issue.
The GOP will never champion our cause, yet we have one with President Obama. He may not fit our ideal champion, but he is the only one we have. This executive order on the Dream Act is a REALLY big step and although it may not seem like one, it really is.
It has us moving forward and that hasn’t happened since Pres. Reagan. I know many of you don’t identify as illegal. I surely don’t, but would you agree that it doesn’t matter to them.
Plus immigration is not just a Latino problem, it’s an ALL immigration PROBLEM. The GOPT plans to kill the Dream Act on day one. PLEASE VOTE! OBAMA/BIDEN 2012!
September 5th, 2012 at 12:09 pm
If I hear one more speaker talk about the 4.5 million jobs added under Obama I am going to puke. Hey democrats how about the 4.2 million jobs lost? Reality check: Net 300,000 job gain last four years, thats all and its really pathetic.
September 5th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Outstanding speaker and outstanding speech. I believe (also, hope and pray) that we will be seeing alot of Julian and Joaquin Castro.
When I first saw President Obama make his first speech at the DNC many years ago, I knew he would someday be president. I had the same thought last night!
Both of these young men will go far in the Democratic Party and rightfully so. Their mother should be very proud.
September 5th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Any relation to Fidel?
September 5th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
Agreed, John. Where Obama failed the most was before he took office. He should’ve worked the last 4 years to prevent, retroactively, the recession.
September 5th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
John, it’s amnesia like i’ve never seen
mark my words – another few more years and they will be blaming even the start of the recession on obama.
September 5th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Considering we were in a recession and still declining when he took office, i’d say the results are good. not great, but good.
Or were you under the impression that everything was great when he took office, and then the economy took a dump? Were you?
September 5th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
of course, he’s brown and his last name is castro, duh!
silly baggers
September 5th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
With this speech, with this appearance, Mayor Castro has cemented his career with the career of President Obama. Oh, how many times did I hear him say the word “investment?”
He seems to be a very bright, very smart young man. But listen to what he is saying. He is basically saying he agrees with all liberals.
His cure for what ails America is “tax and spend.” He may be “new” considering his young age, but his agenda is old and stale. I am from Texas. Texas will not vote for any liberal for national or statewide office, not in the near future.
September 5th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Wow, what a difference in last night’s convention compared to last week’s. Last night we saw the party representing the America of Today and Tomorrow, and last week we saw the party choosing to represent the worst of Yesterday.
September 5th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Howie, wish we had CEO’s like that now…fat chance of that happening within the ranks of today’s greedy corporate types. too bad, it’s a fantastic idea. – ZL
September 5th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Another GREAT speech. If people in the middle can’t see the difference between our candidates and Romney/Ryan now, they’re hopeless ideologues who will vote for the very people that screw them. For a great book on why this happens, read “What’s the Matter With Kansas”.
September 5th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Angel, I doubt you speak for the whole of Texas on any level. Texas is tired of Perry and the periodonitis that comes with him.
September 5th, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Well, the Democratic National Convention kicked off in style last night with First Lady Michelle Obama and San Antonio, Tex. Mayor Juan Castro headlining. From mischaracterizing Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital record to inane ramblings on abortion and something called ‘economic patriotism’ (read: socialism), those were some of the ‘highlights’ on the first night of the DNC for me.
I expect more of the same tonight with Bill Clinton speaking. I wonder if he will mention Mitt Romney’s ‘sterling business record’?
Here are some of the offerings from our writers and contributors this morning:
Why the Charlotte convention will fail by Newt Gingrich. “Obviously the Obama convention cannot be an achievement campaign. The failure of their policies forces them to have an accusation convention. That means accuse Romney of everything. Accuse Ryan of everything you failed to accuse Romney of. Accuse Republicans in general of even more than you have accused Romney-Ryan.”
Clinton rejects Obamanomics in favor of Reaganomics by Allan Ryskind. Our editor-at-large Allan Ryskind, who covered Capitol Hill for decades, writes in this week’s paper and online today: “But there is much irony in all of this: The great Clinton economy began when he embraced the essence of Reaganomics: tax cuts, spending restraint, welfare reform, free trade and the end of his own budget-crushing entitlement program, universal health care.”
Future Democratic star Julian Castro rises to the national stage by John Gizzi. “Castro was one of six big-city mayors to have a major speaking role at the Charlotte convention. As the Hispanic American population in his native (and now solidly Republican) Texas keeps growing, some Republicans — among them present, U.S. Senate nominee Ted Cruz — have warned that unless the GOP improves its standing among that group, the Lone Star State’s governorship and Senate seats might easily flip from Republican to Democrat … “Could Cruz and others have been thinking of Julian Castro when they issued that warning? Judging from their reaction to Castro’s first appearance before them and a national audience, the Democrats at the Charlotte convention clearly think so.”
PLUS–Michelle wows delegates, but what about voters?
Even before the speech, Clinton won Democrats’ hearts
I’ll talk to you all tomorrow. Have a great Wednesday.
-Adam
September 5th, 2012 at 9:20 pm
I love Rachel. The other stations criticize MSNBC because they don’t have the balls to call a lie a lie when they hear one from a politician.
The folks at MSNBC do their homework and get their facts straight, but above all else have the guts to take a moral stand and call out lies and distortions……and do so in an entertaining way.
September 5th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
When I asked Anonz if he ever met a man that couldn’t be bought, he looked at me and beamed his wry smile, saying, Yes, one, and that’s why I’m supporting him.
He smiled that smile again and said many like to pretend they are above the temptation but I know better. Bob Woodard comes to mind. He has the public conned on how he was the holder of “Deep Throat.”
The truth is he was paid off by my father and other powerful rich men to keep what the guy really knew and wanted to tell, secret.
If America knew the extent of Nixon’s criminality they would have lynched ole Bob for his complicity in aiding and abetting keeping Nixon’s traitorous acts.
Nixon was bought and paid for by the Mob. J. Edgar Hoover had sold blackmail material to the Mob and others like my father showing Nixon blowing his lover and taking it up the butt.
The two gay boys were owned by the Mafia. Hence it was a short walk from there to taking the money. Howard Hughes, a guy my father hated and eventually captured to steal his wealth and power, got to be the wealthiest white man on the planet by paying Nixon to escalate the war in Vietnam and use his helicopters as the chief weapon in the war.
The instant $billion he made infuriated my father. So much that he bought the CIA so that they would make him a drug addict, imprison him and give my father total access to his wealth and power.
I learned a lot from that man, he said as he smiled and chuckled under his breath about his father being one of the few men he knew who had no restraints on their behavior.
He often said that his father was the poster child for the fact that Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely.
Then he abruptly changed the subject back to Bob Woodward. He said that this creep was still taking money to lie.
That is the purpose of this post. Good ole honest Bob has been BAPF to put a book out by September 16 that will eat into the popularity of the President.
Look for it. It is called “The Price of Politics.”
Mike,TM
September 5th, 2012 at 10:15 pm
I am a white woman, but have you noticed that when the crowd is panned, there is a significant shortage of white men in the audience?
Vicky
September 5th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
I would love to surf between your legs darling. Just waiting for you to call me and say “Surf’s Up.”
September 5th, 2012 at 11:45 pm
Mike, TM. I read the book. You are right he was BAPF. There was no mention of the anti tax pledge every single house Republican signed.
So when you tell a story about cause and effect make sure you mention that Republicans are bound not by principles or convictions.
They were bound by an agreement they made the night of Obama’s inauguration to sink this economy so that they could prevent him from getting reelected.
But of course if ole Bob revealed that little “deep throat” what would be the purpose of writing a book about the cooperation of the two branches of government.
So Mike,TM. He hid another “Deep Throat” for money.
Cynthia
September 5th, 2012 at 11:47 pm
If you haven’t noticed we hit 16 trillion in debt today. The borrowing needs to come to a halt immediately. We don’t have a revenue problem (revenues are about on average of the Clinton years) we have a spending addiction we need to curb.
September 6th, 2012 at 12:17 am
Ellie, you are the typical republican liar. Revenues are NOT about on average of the Clinton years. As a matter of fact(you know the info your kind never lets get in the way of a lie) the truth is taxes under Clinton was twice as high for the wealthy as they are now.
Add to that the cost of two unnecessary wars and Pres. Bush’s prescription drug benefit and stimulus and we have a situation where Obama inherited an economy with revenues no where near comparable to your lie that revenues were about average.
Hence we don’t just have a spending addiction we need to curb, we have a revenue problem that needs to be addressed by having the rich pay their fair share of taxes along with a serious cost analysis.
We also need the republicans to cooperate in giving Obama the kind of stimulus package he needs to get this economy going.
Lewis
September 6th, 2012 at 12:25 am
Gee, I wonder how many more of these bullshit books will come out before the election?
September 6th, 2012 at 12:26 am
Obama assumed that a President is afforded a modicum of respect. The GOP decided that calling him a liar on the floor of the Senate was their baseline rule of conduct. Things went downhill from there.