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The Rules of the Game

Friday, October 5, 2012


© Joel Pett

The above comic came out just before the first debate, so you’ll forgive the cartoonist if he forgot the latest rule: “you can lie as much as you want, as long as you act like the alpha dog”.


© Adam Zyglis

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Fuzzy Math

Friday, October 5, 2012

The National Memo did the math, so that you don’t have to (and because Romney won’t).

Last night, Mitt Romney promised to eliminate our $1.3 trillion annual deficit without raising any taxes. How will he do this? First, reduce deductions for the wealthy. Well, that’s only $165 billion if you eliminate all deductions for the wealthy. The rest of the money? His answer was to grow the economy so that more people are earning money, and thus paying taxes.

Sounds great! So let’s work the math out. Romney said he would add 12 million new jobs over the next four years. If those jobs pay an average of $40,000/year and pay 20% in federal taxes, that will provide $96 billion in additional revenue.

We’re still not close to $1.3 trillion. And that’s not counting the additional money Romney wants to spend on the military, or the $713 billion Romney wants to give to the health insurance companies via Medicare.

So how much would those new jobs have to pay in order to generate enough revenue to eliminate the deficit? On average, those new jobs would have to pay $433,333/year, each.

I see the problem — to Romney that’s a typical middle class salary!

Or let’s look at it another way. If we go back to assuming that those jobs pay $40,000/year, how many jobs would we have to create to eliminate the deficit? Romney would somehow need to create 162.5 million new jobs. That means more than doubling the total number of jobs in the US.

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Late Night Political Humor

Friday, October 5, 2012

“There are 40 days left until the election. A lot can happen in 40 days — Obama can make a gaffe, Mitt could win the debates, God can send a flood to destroy all mankind. So, there’s hope.” – Stephen Colbert

“The presidential debates begin on Wednesday. Romney has taken two days off to prepare. They’re going to have practice debates. They’re going to do that for two days, and another full day of spray tanning, and he’ll be ready to go.” – David Letterman

“With the first presidential debate less than a week away, both the Obama camp and Romney camp are being careful not to overhype their candidates. They’re asking voters to lower their expectations and not get too excited. Or as voters put it, ‘Way ahead of you. Don’t worry about that’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“These debates are tightly controlled. Each side, Obama and Romney, had to agree to 32 pages of rules. It’s like being a Kardashian husband.” – David Letterman

“There’s a man who actually went to high school with Mitt Romney and later went to law school with President Obama. When asked how going to school with two presidential candidates made him feel, he said, ‘Uh, bad about my job at Arby’s’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“A new survey shows how much time we waste every day. For example, we waste seven minutes in line waiting for coffee, 28 minutes getting through airport security, and four years waiting for President Obama to do something about the economy.” – Jay Leno

“Paul Ryan now says that President Obama’s foreign policy has ‘blown up in his face’ and it’s time to go back to the Republican foreign policy. Well, let’s see, Obama kept Guantanamo Bay open, the troops are still overseas, and the Middle East hates us. Isn’t that the Republican foreign policy?” – Jay Leno

“Here’s another blow to the Romney campaign. Earlier today, that empty chair endorsed Obama” – David Letterman

“Mitt Romney is doing what he can. He’s trying very hard. He wants to unite America, the rich with the wealthy, the poor with the indigent, and the white with the Caucasian.” – David Letterman

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The Massachusetts Miracle?

Thursday, October 4, 2012

In the debate tonight, while I was happy to hear Mitt Romney actually own up to Romneycare and how it improved things in Massachusetts, in order to do it he had to lie. Romney claimed that he never proposed Romneycare as a model for national health care reform, but only for states. He’s lying.

Secondly, if Romney did so many wonderful things in Massachusetts, why is it that 60% of voters in Massachusetts prefer Obama, while only 32% prefer Romney? What happened to the normal home state advantage?

I do wish Obama had been more willing to point things like this out during the debate.

UPDATE: Two interesting takes on last night’s debate:

Jonathan Chait in New York magazine:

Romney won the debate in no small part because he adopted a policy of simply lying about his policies. Probably the best way to understand Obama’s listless performance is that he was prepared to debate the claims Romney has been making for the entire campaign, and Romney switched up and started making different and utterly bogus ones. Obama, perhaps, was not prepared for that, and he certainly didn’t think quickly enough on his feet to adjust to it.

And my favorite, Electoral-vote.com:

Of course, winning the first debate is not the same as winning the election. John Kerry decisively won the first debate in 2004 but didn’t win the election. Also, the second debate is a town hall format, with questions from the audience, which has a completely different dynamic. Finally, a chastened Obama may hit back much harder next time.

Another loser last night was moderator Jim Lehrer. He completely lost control. Romney kept talking beyond his alloted time slots and when Lehrer tried to stop him, wouldn’t stop. He could have said: “Governor, we agreed to some rules in advance and I’d appreciate it if you would follow them.” Obama also spoke too long upon occasion but only once did Lehrer call him on it. Clearly Lehrer preferred being in the background. But as a consequence of his reticence, the sixth 15-minute segment (on governing) got only 3 minutes.

After the debate, Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, promised that Obama would get much tougher with Romney next time, now that he knows how inconsistent Romney is. Axelrod inferred that yesterday was the moment that Romney shook the Etch-A-Sketch and that in the future what he says at a debate will be compared to what he has campaigned on all year and inconsistencies highlighted.

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Discrimination without Borders

Thursday, October 4, 2012


© Jen Sorensen

It is true. After some early success in recruiting women into the field of computer science, the number of women receiving CS degrees has been going down dramatically since then — despite the fact that there is strong demand for computer workers regardless of sex.

The study mentioned in the first panel of this comic is particularly stunning. Even highly educated scientists showed blatant discrimination against female students when considering them for a job. Given applications that were identical except for the name of the student, the applicants with a male name were evaluated as being more competent, more likely to be hired, and deserving of a higher salary. Even more ironic is that this was true whether the evaluating scientist was male or female.

Sexism runs very deep. But I’m not sure what can be done about it. You would think that intelligent and well educated scientists would be less likely to be sexist than the general population, but the sexism remains. And unlike other discrimination — such as against blacks or gays — it isn’t based on fear. Attitudes about gays are improving because the general population is getting used to seeing gays as normal, productive members of society (as opposed to scary deviants). But everyone sees women in these roles, and yet the sexism remains.

As Jen Sorensen — the creator of the above comic — notes:

Even I still catch myself thinking of a stereotypical doctor as a guy with a stethoscope, despite the fact that I’ve had female doctors for my entire adult life. It’s harder to get rid of these biases than we think.

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Late Night Political Humor

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

“Mitt Romney’s campaign said Obama is spiking the ball too early in Ohio after recent polls show Obama pulling ahead. Obama hasn’t earned that win yet, which is why today the NFL replacement refs just gave it to him anyway.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Can prayer save this election? Picking Paul Ryan was certainly a hail Mary.” – Stephen Colbert

“It’s rumored that in a recent Univision interview, Mitt Romney wore makeup to appeal to Latino voters. I can’t wait to see Romney’s appearance on BET.” – Conan O’Brien

“The latest Quinnipiac, New York Times, CBS, TCBY poll has Obama up by 10 points in Ohio, 9 points in Florida, and 12 points in Pennsylvania. I don’t get it. How could Romney be behind? He’s so popular, fans are releasing bootlegs of his speeches.” – Stephen Colbert

“God is three undecided voters: the father, the son and the holy spirit. You gotta figure the son is leaning Obama, what with the long hair, and the loaf and fish handouts to the poor. Get a job, hippie!” – Stephen Colbert

“President Obama is so confident that he’s thinking about letting Joe Biden start speaking again.” – Jay Leno

“At a recent concert, Madonna told the audience she would strip naked if President Obama is re-elected. In a related story, President Obama is now trailing in the polls by 97 percent.” – Conan O’Brien

“Let me tell you how crazy Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is. Today he actually defended the NFL’s replacement refs.” – Jay Leno

“Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is always angry. Yesterday he said, however, that in fact he does not hate gay people. He went on to say that Iran is on its way to developing one of its own.” – David Letterman

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The Pre-Debate Debate

Tuesday, October 2, 2012


© Jim Morin

This is the most praise they have given each other since the campaign started!

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Late Night Political Humor

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

“A new poll found that Mitt Romney is behind in Florida by 1 percent. Which is weird because if there’s one group that loves Romney, it’s definitely the 1 percent.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Mitt Romney’s campaign is $11 million in debt. This is the guy that’s going to fix our economy?” – David Letterman

“I lost the Emmy. Speaking of losing – Mitt Romney.” – Stephen Colbert

“Mitt is out now riding on a bus. I think it’s his first time riding on a bus. He’s trying to show the world that he’s s regular guy, and he’s taking a bus tour. It’s just like the Willie Nelson bus, except on Mitt’s bus, the brownies are brownies.” – David Letterman

“Republican parties don’t last long once the black guy shows up.” – Stephen Colbert

“At a concert the other night, Madonna promised fans that she will strip naked if President Obama is reelected. Is it just me, or does that sound like an endorsement for Mitt Romney?” – Jay Leno

“Well, last week in Vermont, the guy from the Dos Equis beer commercials — you know “the most interesting man in the world” — he hosted a fundraiser for President Obama. See, that shows you how things have changed. Four years ago the slogan was hope and change. Now it’s ‘stay thirsty my friends.'” – Jay Leno

“Clint Eastwood’s new movie, “Trouble with the Curve,” opened in third place this weekend after making only $12 million. Of course, when he saw a movie theater had so many empty seats, Eastwood was like, ‘Look at these crowds!'” – Jimmy Fallon

“The U.N. has opened up. Leaders of countries from all over the world have come here. They have diplomatic immunity so they can do stuff and get away with it. It’s like Lindsay Lohan.” – David Letterman

“The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is here. He hates Jewish people, he hates gay people. And I thought, well, he’s come to the right place.” – David Letterman

“Ahmadinejad is always shooting his mouth off, ranting about this, ranting about that. I said to myself, ‘I bet this guy’s always in a bad mah-mood.'” – David Letterman

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Job One

Monday, October 1, 2012

Romney and the Republicans claim that they would be better at creating jobs, even though they recently blocked another jobs bill from Obama. Remember, their solution to creating jobs is to cut taxes on the rich job creators (well, that and outlaw abortion and gay marriage). And we know how well that worked when they were in power.

They left the economy in a shambles.

Indeed, in the first month of Obama’s presidency the economy lost a stunning 800,000 jobs, and in the following year — before Obama’s stimulus started turning things around — had lost a total of 4.3 million jobs.

Well, the new annual jobs report has some more bad news, but this time it is bad news for the Republican narrative that Obama hasn’t created jobs. Because Obama just became a net job creator. Not only has the US economy replaced all the jobs that were lost, but it has actually added around 125,000 jobs.

According to Forbes magazine:

As if to pile on to what may be the worst two week period a presidential campaign has ever suffered, Governor Mitt Romney has now lost one of the campaign’s key narratives.

Romney can no longer claim that President Obama’s first term in office has resulted in a loss of jobs.

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Romney will stop making that claim.

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Foreign Policy

Monday, October 1, 2012


© Jeff Danziger

It’s always Florida!

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Late Night Political Humor

Monday, October 1, 2012

“Congratulations to both Mitt Romney and President Obama. They both won Emmys for their performance on “60 Minutes” last night. Obama won for acting as if everything has gotten better over the last four years, and Romney won for pretending to care about that other 47 percent.” – Jay Leno

“The president’s re-election campaign slogan is “Forward,” which is also his policy on paying for stuff.” – Jay Leno

“A woman in Tampa, Florida, who is in danger of being foreclosed on, put a giant sign on her roof reading, “Obama, please save my home.” To which Obama said, “Hey lady, I’m trying not to get thrown out of my own house, OK?” – Jay Leno

“A civil rights group said that up to ten million Hispanics could be blocked from voting in the upcoming election because of these changes to the voting laws. Ten million. And that’s just here in LA.” – Jay Leno

“Monica Lewinsky is writing a memoir about her affair with Bill Clinton. Not a moment too soon. According to reports, she will reveal that he wanted to have a threesome. So despite being a Rhodes Scholar, despite being president of the United states, it turns out he’s just a regular guy like you and me.” – Jay Leno

“A new book claims the reason Texas Gov. Rick Perry did so terrible in the debates and forgot everything was due to a sleep disorder. Apparently the disorder was he slept through grade school, high school and college.” – Jay Leno

“The president of Iran is in New York today. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting the U.N. He’s been in America one day and he’s already surged past Mitt Romney in the polls.” – Craig Ferguson

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With What Politician Do You Most Agree?

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Interesting quiz. You answer questions about a few issues, and it shows you the presidential candidate with whom you most agree:

http://www.isidewith.com/presidential-election-quiz

No big surprise is that I most agree with Barack Obama, but Jill Stein (the Green candidate) was a close second. I agreed with Romney on almost nothing (although how they decided what his position was is beyond me!).

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The Closer We Get To The Election, The Dumber Mitt Romney Appears To Be Getting

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Jon Stewart is devastatingly brilliant:

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The Middle

Sunday, September 30, 2012


© Joe Heller

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If you Complain, you’re Lame!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Republicans are complaining that the mainstream media is using skewed polls that show that Obama is winning. Their argument? That these polls are counting more Democrats than Republicans.

This may be the ultimate in false equivalences. The reasons why polls include more Democrats than Republicans is because there are more Democrats than Republicans. Right now, 35% of Americans identify as Democrats, and 28% as Republicans, with the remaining 33% Independents. So it only stands to reason that if you do a proper poll you will find that there are more Democrats.

But reason apparently has nothing to do with it. Conservatives are even calling it a conspiracy:

They’re trying to wrap this up before the debates even start. I think they’re trying to get this election finished and in the can by suppressing your vote and depressing you so that you just don’t think there’s any reason to vote, that it’s hopeless.

Either that, or Republicans think that only they have the right to vote.

But there are some conservatives who don’t buy into this conspiracy. Erick Erickson, the editor of the RedState blog wrote this week:

I’ve been in politics long enough to know that the louder one side gets complaining about the polls, the more likely it is that this is the side that, in reality, actually is losing.

Amen.


© Mike Luckovich

UPDATE: Nate Silver explains why the Republican complaints are nonsense.

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