Exclusive from Greg Palast -The Debates: What the hell happened?
Exclusive to TheMudflats.net from Greg Palast, author of Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps please listen to my discussion with Shannyn Moore on her radio show from last night.
What the hell happened? Did Barack have a fight with Michelle? Was it nicotine withdrawal? Do really rich guys just scare you, 
Mr. Obama?
Dear Mr. President: As a journalist I don’t take partisan sides, but I do take America’s side. And as Commander-in-Chief, you simply cannot fall asleep in the saddle.
I mean Commander-in-Chief in the Class War. The war of the billionaires against the rest of us.
You were asked, “What is the role of government?”
You seemed stumped. Lost.
Well, here’s three, Mr. President:
- Issue Social Security checks. Checks for cash money. Not some bullshit voucher.
- Save General Motors and Motor City.
- Kill Osama.
Maybe you should have written those on your palm.
When Mr. PBS Bumblebrain asked you the difference between your views and Gov. Romney’s on Social Security, you said, “You know, I suspect that, on Social Security, we’ve got a somewhat similar position.”
Really, Mr. President, REALLY?
Romney says that if you’re 38 or 54, it doesn’t matter that you’ve paid into Medicare and Social Security all your life, you don’t get the insurance you paid for. You get some stinking voucher, some coupon that says, “Here’s a hundred bucks kid, go buy a gold watch.”
Who exactly is going to take a voucher to provide health insurance to a 72-year-old with asthma, in a walker and prostate problems?
Governor Romney said, with that smirky, smarmy grin, “I’d assume I’d rather have a private [health] plan.” Gee, Mr. Romney, could you give me the number of your insurance company and tell them to take my “voucher”?
Mr. President, you gabbled on about the Cleveland Medical Clinic and its “best practices.” Who the hell cares, Mr. President? There are people bleeding out here, LITERALLY BLEEDING, who now can get health coverage because of ObamaCare. For all its failings, it saves lives, saves homes from foreclosure caused by insane medical bills – only recently, the number one cause of foreclosures in America.
Excerpt from Billionaires & Ballot Bandits by Greg Palast, art by Ted Rall
Can’t you even defend the one thing that’s worth a damn and has your name on it?
Romney’s wife has MS. That’s sad. But what’s tragic is that there are millions in America with MS who couldn’t get insurance because they have this prior condition—and are not married to an investment banker demi-billionaire.
I don’t care that you couldn’t seem to defend yourself tonight, Mr. President. That’s a Democratic Party headache. What I resent, what gets me furious and angry, is that you didn’t defend ME. Me and my family.
When Romney says he defends small business, let me tell you, I have a small business. I don’t need a tax break – hell, like most small businesses, we don’t make money. We need health insurance. We need government loans.
When Romney says government never does anything cheaper than the private sector, Mr. President, don’t you know that it was government mortgage agencies that funded America’s middle class homeownership? That’s what government did – and licked Hitler to boot.
When mortgages were privatized, we were thrown at the mercy of the Banksters.
(And why the hell did you, Mr. Obama, bring up that right-wing canard that banks just gave out mortgages to people who couldn’t afford them – blaming sub-prime predatory mortgage crimes on the victims. Sounds like you agree that 47% of Americans are leeches.)
Maybe it’s true that you, Mr. President, are actually just a hollow man, a creation of PR consultants and rich donors, a Ken-doll of repeating lines about “Hope,” “change” and “this country thrives when the middle class thrives.”
The truth is, you were ready to raise the retirement age for Social Security and cut back-room deals with drug companies. Maybe in the end, progressive policies are just a marketing niche you’ve found to cover aimless ambition and a yearning to compromise.
If someone drilled a hole in you, could we blow in and play you like a flute? Or is there some substance, some hard core of principal that couldn’t break out tonight because it was imprisoned by advisors who told you to play it safe, play it in a coma?
Mr. President, if you can’t explain why you are the Commander-in-Chief in this class war against the billionaire bandits attempting to seize our government, then get off the horse and let someone in the saddle who can ride.
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Greg Palast’s brand new book is Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps.
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And like RobMoney will be any better than what is in office? lol…it was all a set up folks…think about it…these rich white boys HATE the idea of a black man in Washington DC…but to be the POTUS? haha…they are still a group of racists who think people are sheeple and easily entertained…may be they are right…
As much as I admire you, Mr. Palast, I must say that politics is not your forte. Your silly, intemperate comments are way off base. I’m surprised you didn’t also kick PBS’s Jim Lehrer in the face like so many others. Mr. Lehrer did a fine job, and his years of experience clearly worked to his (and America’s) benefit. As far as I can tell the biggest complaint is that the moderator let the candidates do the talking. And why are you ignoring that there three debates left? No doubt the strategy was to let Romney fire all his guns and roll out all the spin, lies and flip flops so the master shape shifter and his side kick can be pinned down in later debates — notice that not a word was said by the President about the 47% gaffe. Look for him and the VP to lower the boom in the final month of the campaign. Also, to prevent over confidence and insure voter turnout, it’s not a bad thing to allow Romney to have his day in the sun now. The race is close and it’s never good for Obama when he comes off like a cocky know-it-all. The point is to win the election, not any particular debate. Ask John Kerry.
I’ve been posting this far and wide since it landed in my inbox this morning. Thanks, Greg. I’ll be sending a donation to get your book as soon as I can afford it (I bought two copies of the last book; one for me, one for the local library).
Romney looked like a jerk: a rich man bullying his way around, ignoring the rules of debate he agreed to, ignoring the moderator, and interrupting his opponent. He almost looked manic with all the blinking, fast speech and gesturing. Obama could have done better, but people also watch visual cues, and Romney confirmed he is a beast.
I don’t think any 55 yr old and younger American will vote for Romney’s voucher care. So explain exactly what policies Romney won on? More tax cuts for billionaires? Really?
It’s a Presidential debate- not a policy paper discussion unfortunately. Romney ‘won’ because he won the argument – Obama couldn’t explain what the Federal gov’t does… that’s a loss.
I don’t think most people have a clue about the voucher program one way or another – and any way most people my age (31) don’t believe Soc. Sec is going to be there for us anyway…. and beyond that as Obama said “I believe we have similar opinons on this…”
WHAT!?!?!?!
No you don’t – you don’t have similar opinions on this… for fracks sake!
Well. Hmmm.
Mr Palast-
As someone who pretty regularly gets their britches in a bunch over the Centrist, New Democrat, Third Way dealie I’m telling you to cut the (Koch Bros) spandex on your shorts and take a deep breath.
Me, I had to turn off my radio before I yanked its cord out of the wall and threw it out the door like I did years ago when Saint Ronnie was “debating”
Why?
Because Mr Romney was blathering on about the NFIB and jobs.
Now- the NFIB?
The right-to-work-, no lower floor on minimum wage bunch?
Do we give a rat’s patoot about losing 700K poorly paid jobs? No we do not.
Absolutely do not. We *^$$&*ing do not.
Where is your anger over that crap?
Where is the followup that Mr Romney infamously flip flopped on minimum wage legislation when he was governor and that the state legislature over rode him?
I find Mr Obama did ok after reading the transcript this morning.
Mr Romney not so much.
I disagree with Mr Obama a fair amount of the time, (well, most of the time really) but I don’t expect him to
swash and buckle every opening the opposition gives him.
Transcripts are not the way that debates are won and lost., unfortunately. Something tells me you were decided before this debate happened. Obama phoning it in last night just suddenly made the race close again.
🙂
So this is all about the “undecideds” eh?
The ditherers, the cater-to-me gang?
The “independents” who are about as independent as an arm without a body is?
The folks in swing states whose single votes outweigh those of everyone in my state?
Oh Yay.
Doesn’t matter what I decide or how I vote. Alaska has no weight in the final outcome.
The myth that these are real debates and not merely and mostly middle school points-scored-with-zingers is alive and well. eh?
For some of us,self included,transcripts are the surest way to know what was said. Personally I can’t hear well enough to follow a debate. I was really hoping Mittens would recite Nixon’s “Checkers” speech,verbatim,so Fake Noise could ooh and ahh all over Mitt’s verbal skills. Maybe next time. Someone should ask Romney to sweat like Tricky Dick. That would sink him.
Many hard truths here, but ones we need to hear. !!
“Mr. President, if you can’t explain why you are the Commander-in-Chief in this class war against the billionaire bandits attempting to seize our government, then get off the horse and let someone in the saddle who can ride.”
I happen to believe that Pres. Obama can ride, but he can’t and shouldn’t have to, do it alone. Congress, shameful though they be, must grab the reins of their horses and do something. Otherwise the whole picture is going over the cliff.
nem