Romney abandons bid

UPDATED BELOW

Mitt Romney has thrown in the towel on his sputtering and feeble second-generation pipe dream.

Here is what he said to donors in a phone conference:

"I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters... many of you right here in this room... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.

"I will continue to stand for conservative principles; I will fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of those things is that we cannot allow the next President of the United States to retreat in the face evil extremism!!"

Of course, none of his five sons are heading to a recruiting station to take up arms to fight evil extremism. During WWII, he would have been shamed off the stage by that fact alone.

I bet the wife had more than a word or two to say about it all, too. He burned through $35 million of their fortune chasing his delusion.

So he is leaving to make it easier for the Republicans to get their act together and defeat Obama or Clinton. Because what we need is the four more years of Bush that McCain offers.

Any word on if paramedics have swarmed Dobson's offices in Colorado yet? You just know he had a seizure.

UPDATE:

Well! I am shaking off the haze of the meds that go along with having long, large needles poked into my knees, and I just heard the entire withdrawal speech. Hearing the petulant tone, rather than reading words through a Xanax filter really, really pissed me off. But I get that way when my patriotism is maligned and dismissed because I favor a different path for my country than the trainwreck currently unfolding.

What a jackass! Displaying that delusional, grandiose affect to the bitter end - with the emphasis on bitter.

Screw you, Mitt, you coward.

Surrender to terrorists? Is anyone going to demand an apology from this draft-dodging prick?

The thinking this warmongering chickenhawk embraces is exactly the thinking that has screwed us up this bad. It has have exacerbated the problem. Republicans have proven that they make us less safe, not more.

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Public May Be Ahead Of Candidates On Medical Marijuana

Testifying before Congress last summer, the chief scientist in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Dr. David Murray, reportedly said that the medical use of marijuana had sparked violence and robberies in California.

I suppose I've seen too many silly old movies like Reefer Madness. I envisioned, in grainy black and white, wild-eyed, pot-crazed cancer patients, knocking over convenience stores to get at the Milk Duds stash.

More seriously, this season's leading Republican presidential candidates seem to be toeing the White House line on this issue. The Democrats, characteristically, have been more open-minded. But they all seem to be trailing the American public.

As long ago as 2002, a Time/CNN survey found that 80 percent of Americans support the use of marijuana as medicine. And in the same survey, 72 percent said nonmedicinal users should be fined, not thrown in the hoosegow. In other words, they favored decriminalization.

Here's a video sampling of what some of the candidates, current and former, have said about medical marijuana.

Onward.


From Barack Obama, who admits having inhaled his share as a young man:



From Mitt Romney, evasion and swill:



Here's Hillary Clinton. At least she answered the question:



Now John McCain. He makes one thing perfectly clear -- he's opposed to incarcerating the dead:



This from recent dropout John Edwards. Even with some problems, I'm sad he's not still in the running:



Last, but not least, heeeere's Ron Paul. True to 19th-century American values, he's for states' rights on the issue:



That's all we have time for today, folks. Until next time, 2012, don't get diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Crossposted at Manifesto Joe.

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Wasn't there something I was supposed to blog about today?

Oh yeah - I remember now.

There's a Republican primary election in South Carolina and both parties held their caucus in Nevada today.


Nevada first...With 88% of precincts reporting, Hillary Clinton was declared the winner with 51% to Obama's 45%. Edwards garnered 4%, and should probably think about withdrawing with his chances for a cabinet position - and his dignity - intact.

On the Republican side, Romney took it standing up with 51%. Ron Paul took 14%, John McCain came in with 13%. Huck and Fred tied at 8%. Rudy brought up the rear with 4%.

I guess the Nervous Nellies among Hillary supporters were a bit over-the-top. For the record, they totally took the wrong tack. They should have approached it from the position of "then you have to hold caucuses in hospitals, too." What judge would want to be seen as the guy who upheld a showgirls right to caucus, but nurses can go hang? It was a no-brainer. Apparently. Some no-brain out there fucked that up from Jump Street.

Okay - South Carolina - that's a Republicans-only primary election, and polls won't close for a couple of hours, but Politico.com has a pretty good summation:

Saturday's most crucial showdown was on the other side of the country, in South Carolina, where the Republican contenders try to wrest advantage from each other — after three different candidates won the first three major contests.

Most polls have shown McCain leading Huckabee, trailed by Romney and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.

The stakes for the entire GOP field are high if history is a guide — every Republican nominee since Ronald Reagan has won South Carolina.

And the weather is absolutely miserable. Can you believe it's snowing in parts of South Carolina?

Well it is.

In the part of the state where Mike Huckabee's support is strongest.

Wonder what God's own Candidate is thinking right now?

[Updates below the fold]


UPDATE - Pale Rider

God's own candidate, Mitt Romney, did well out in Las Vegas. I've seen some coverage writing it off, basically saying that an overwhelming Mormon vote is the reason for his win in Nevada.

Ron Paul pulling 14% and beating McCain is huge--as is the fact that Ron Paul has a larger constituency within the Republican Party than that of Rudy Guiliani. I'm reminded of Ron Paul explaining why we were attacked on 9/11 and Rudy "not getting it" and trying to belittle Ron Paul for his ideas. As nuts as he is, Ron Paul gets it right on the war and that's gotta be troubling for the overtly pro-war candidates on either side of the aisle.

UPDATE II - Pale Rider 7:45 PM- Eastern

Tucker Carlson is trying to fan the flames of a Hispanic vs Black split in the Democratic Party. As if. We don't even have a nominee yet. We don't have anywhere near enough information to make that assessment. We have yet to see a large, populous and diverse state vote yet. And the Republican shill machine is desperate.

Tucker--talk about Ron Paul beating main stream Republicans with 50 times the name recognition and then ask us about a split among Democrats. The split is on the Republican side, clearly, because they are seeing candidates who have spent millions go down in flames.

The MSNBC coverage is dominated by Olbermann and Russert. Matthews is the third wheel along for the Prom date, and no one wants to give him liquor because he'll get caught and everyone will get busted by the Gym teacher. This makes for stilted coverage. CNN is unwatchable. They have Bill Bennett in there and all I want to do is ask "did that lardass play the one-armed bandit all day?"

UPDATE III - Blue Girl

Lets look at the Nevada numbers:

Women were a strong majority for the Democrats in Nevada. 59% of Democrats attending the caucus were female, to 41% male.

On the Republican side, the numbers are closer, but males are a solid majority - 52% to 48%.

But more telling than the gender demographics are the age demographics.

Republicans

60-up_________45%
45-59_________27%
30-44_________17%
18-29_________11%

Democrats

60-up_________36%
45-59_________32%
30-44_________19%
18-29_________13%

The numbers tell this well-versed-in-stats political consumer that the Republican party is entering the twilight years, along with it's stalwarts. It is sooooo yesterday. People who want to move forward are throwing their lot in with the Democrats, and the demographics on the Democratic side are much more stable and desirable. If you read these numbers as if they were in the respective prospectus of companies competing for your investment dollars, where would you invest your money?

UPDATE IV - Pale Rider

Yes--the voters are turned off by the Republicans, they are identifying themselves as Democrats, and the Republicans can't raise money. It's shocking to see how broke some of them are--Guiliani and McCain are literally broke and running on fumes on a day to day basis. Romney is using his own money and Huckabee isn't spending any money. The only who has a legitimate fundraising machine is Ron Paul and he's not going to piss that money away. In 1999, George W Bush was raising millions and was building a massive war chest with which to run. There is no comparison this year. They are all running on fumes.

How about a shout out to Howard Dean? The Fifty State strategy means we are going to compete with Republicans everywhere, and we will make them play a full-court game. As their "brand" continues to sink, we will make gains in places the Washington DC establishment would have written off four years ago.

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How stupid do Mitt and his minions think we are?

I call bullshit.

The pandering jackass who happily posed with this sign did not "misspeak" - and certainly not twice in ten seconds - when he said this:

“Actually, just look at what Osam — Barack Obama — said just yesterday. Barack Obama, calling on radicals, jihadists of all different types, to come together in Iraq.”

His loyal minion and amoral mouthpiece, Kevin Madden, said he "misspoke" while referring to Osama bin Laden's just-released single that shot to the top of the Wingnut Top 40 overnight.

Umm, Kev - you are a dirty-dog liar - he started to say it right and corrected himself.

Care to try again, Wormtail?

How's about this? Try a little honesty.

"Hey, have you seen the polling? This kind of petty, junior-high crap is all we got if we want Mitt to be the guy who loses to Hillary next November!"

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U.S.S The Romneys

(Inspired by this)


"One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

-- Mitt Romney, explaining yesterday why it's okay that none of his five sons enlisted in the military.

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Romney Willingly Signs Offensive Photo

Mitt Romney is catching flak for holding up a sign created by one of his grammatically challenged supporters, appearing to endorse the message contained therein. Romney has attempted to deflect the flak by:

a) claiming he isn't responsible for all the signs he poses with;
b) explaining the wording was just a "funny play on words";
c) stating we should all just "lighten up".

Jerid at Buckeye State Blog asked the stormin' Morman candidate to sign a copy of the photo. Romney did. Happily. Predictably, Romney-ites and dittoheads have directed a great deal of hate toward Jerid, accusing him of fraud. Fortunately, that second photo shows Jerid offering the photo to Romney face up, making it clear Romney knew exactly what he was signing. That hasn't stopped the hateful comments, which fortunately haven't stopped Jerid. I especially enjoyed the post on the Young Republican pleading guilty to raping a fellow Young Republican at a Young Republican convention.

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Oh, Sweet Irony! You just can't make this stuff up!

Sometimes I read something and I just collapse in a fit of giggles like I'm a giddy schoolgirl all over again. Seriously - every day the stable of Republican wannabes - and I do mean wannabes - does something that I derive absolute mirthsome glee from.

McCain takes a stroll, Rudy punks out when it's time to put up, and now, Romney rewrites reality. I mean seriously - can you even stand these fools? WTF, Mate?

“…for conservatives like me, facing reality is not a source of fear. It is a source of confidence. I am convinced that America--and our friends--can overwhelm any threat, but only if we acknowledge it, confront it, and respond thoughtfully and strategically.” Mitt Romney, earlier today in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute.

And not one word in the entire speech about Iraq.

I think that speaks volumes all by itself, don’t you?

Seriously – how could I ever hope to top that?

I'm sorry folks, but you will have to write your own jokes here.

I'm too busy right now, what with the being nonplussed and all.

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