Les Mittsérables

Greg Sargent says this is the only ad Mittens will be running in the swing states, starting Friday.

Is it me, or is this ad pathetic?

According to Jed Lewison, Mittens held some sort of rally in Ohio to help him connect to blue-collar workers, and everyone on the stage with him were owners and other executives. He’s also gone back to bragging about Romneycare.

And Staples? One of the jewels in Mitt’s success story? It’s going down the tubes.

As Josh Marshall says, irony and karma want to kick mitt’s ass.

21 thoughts on “Les Mittsérables

  1. That asshole doesn’t even understand what compassion is..You can’t measure compassion..either you have or you don’t.. and he doesn’t

    He’s confusing compassion for charity( love)…He’s a sick demented creature devoid of both love and compassion. An alien to humanity!

  2. His countenance says it all.. He can’t fool the truth. He’s a sociopath who is trying to rub up next to Obama in hopes that the decency that radiates from Obama will cover the void in his soul.

    Yeah, Seamus enjoyed his compassionate trip up the New Hampshire turnpike.

  3. I was listening to NPR yeaterday; an older woman called in and said she is a Democrat, but will vote for Romney this election. Her reason; she likes Romney’s “values” more.
    I sure wish she could ‘splain” Values” to me.
    She said she is a Christian; perhaps she ment to say Obama is a Muslim?

  4. Cripes!
    I know Mitt approved of this message, but someone should have had an intervention, and said “NO! You can’t look into the camera, and try to look sincere – not for longer than a few seconds. You suck at it. You look smarmy and desperate – especially as you drone on. Keerist, you’d be better off tying your dancing horse to the roof of your bus when you campaign – with your wife riding it. So to speak…”

    I was an actor, and if I gave that performance, I’d expect to get boo’d as I left the stage.

    And when I was an acting teacher, that performance would have gotten a “See me after class – we have a lot of work to do on that monologue. A LOT!”

  5. Erinyes – if only we could determine just WHAT values Romney has 🙁
    His ads say nothing – only that he is going to be different from the current President. Romney’s staff must be completely confused to think the money spent on this one was well used.

  6. There is something about the Romneys that makes a red warning light flash on the dashboard of my life experience. He reminds me, and likely anyone else with a working class history, of a string of insufferable bosses, who returned from long lunch breaks to issue bumbling edicts and bask in the reflected glory of their relative superiority until they screwed the pooch sufficiently. They were then replaced with someone struck from the same die.

    He doesn’t recall any of the bright lights along the way, but confirms a common, and occasionally valid appraisal that working people often make of their bosses, that they are fortunate incompetents. He is not a “Mr. Fixit” because he seems too detached to assess the problem. He can’t blend compassion with insight, because he appears to lack both virtues. He channels the spirits of a few privileged jerks in high school who assumed they were members of the cool elite, simply because they thought they were better than you. These opinions are not the result of rational analysis, although rational analysis might have led to the same conclusions. These are visceral remnants of the struggle that shapes so much of working peoples’ lives, the struggle for economic security. Some people may feel it, some people don’t, but when they do, they feel it deep in their gut. No number of clever campaign ads can compete with that, and as John Lennon said, “You never get out of high school.”

    It’s too late to make a long story short, but the discomfort that Romney elicits seems to be bubbling up into the consciousness of an growing portion of the electorate. If he really had a plan that was backed by a body of empirical evidence and if he could demonstrate even a nodding acquaintance with working class Americans, he might be able to overcome the alarm he sets off in the psyche. But that is not the case. He is his own worst enemy as well as ours. He is a hollow man.

    Once on vacation, I asked a Greek woman about a device in room we rented from her. She gave me a charming and memorable answer, “It is 100% nothing.” I would love to hear her opinion of Mr. Romney.

    • He doesn’t recall any of the bright lights along the way, but confirms a common, and occasionally valid appraisal that working people often make of their bosses, that they are fortunate incompetents.

      Oh, yes yes yes, and I’ve known plenty of those.

  7. “listening to NPR yeaterday; an older woman called in and said she is a Democrat, but will vote for Romney this election. Her reason; she likes Romney’s “values” more.”

    That was an astounding comment. Maybe she’s an anti-choice Democrat. I personally have no idea what Romney’s values might be, except that he really, really, really likes money.

  8. I think the term Josh Marshall is looking for is hubris. How can you get more hubristic than to think you can run a campaign based entirely on lies, and win, and then the economy will magically fix itself –without actually doing anything!–just because you’re so awesome?

    My favorite thing about the new Mitt, though, is that he’s trying to beat Barack Obama by pretending to be Barack Obama. It really used to annoy me how a lot of Democrats would try to sound like Republicans when the Republican party was more ascendant than it is now. I would think, “People are going to choose a real Republican over a fake one every time.” It’s nice to see the shoe on the other foot now.

  9. Magnificent comment thread here.

    Y’know, I’m an old woman, I’m a Democrat, and I listen to NPR, and for the life of me I cannot imagine why anyone in that demographic would be so stupid as to fall for R-Money’s huckstering.

    Are we sure that wasn’t James O’Keefe calling in as a prank? He could definitely pretend to be an old woman, and get away with it.

  10. Want to know what Romney’s values are?…He can give a million bucks to each of his grand children to make a display of his goodness and love…but he won’t give a dime of his money or ours to feed/nourish an under priviledged child.

    He’s a sociopath….And I’m not using that term lightly. There’s an element that binds us all as human beings, and Romney doesn’t possess that element.. Why do you think he’s pushing a campaign with an emphasis on his empathy, compassion, aching heart, goodness?

    Ted Bundy…anybody?

  11. I checked out the link that cundgulag provided and I saw something else interesting, a lead of 54% to 39% for members of the military and their families. I am not a veteran, but, it does seem to me that Obama has treated our veterans with more respect and used them less for political purposes than many previous presidents. Maybe people serving in the military feel the same way, with actual experience to back up their opinion.

    I know a few young people, just starting life with a family, who are not exactly raking in the cash. I have known a lot of Vietnam era veterans who were in the same boat. It wouldn’t surprise me that many of them made too little money to pay income taxes, especially given the economic draft. I suppose that means in Mitt’s book, they haven’t taken responsibility for their lives. Military families seem likely to be another group that must see Romney as clueless and unable to identify with their needs.

    I may be wrong, but I think if the young Obama had been called to serve, he would have gone. Willard would just have launched a few additional years of missionary work.

    This is off topic, but, I used to read David H. Hackworth’s blog when he was alive. I might not have agreed with some of the things he wrote, but, I knew he was a very intelligent person and his opinions came from experience and the heart. Someone like him heading the VA would be very popular among those serving in the military.

  12. Just want to say a few words about mittwitts newly discovered “compassion”. Mittwitt was on 60 minutes a while back. I did not see the entire interview but what I did see upset me to the point where my yelling protest caused others to RUN for the remote.

    What he said was that there are means in place to deal with someone who needs medical care and that they”just don’t sit in their apartments and die” that in fact “we send an ambulance to pick them up and take them to a hospital for care”,
    so the jest of what he was saying(and feel free to tell me if I am wrong) is all us “takers” can just walk into a hospital for “FREE” care (as yet another thing “those people” think they are entitled to)..wow the compassion flows.

    But as a maid with no insurance(my company does not offer it and it would cost more to obtain on my own than my entire income) and someone who cannot qualify for state insurance I can tell you the story is very different.

    When I first got divorced the court ORDERED my ex to pay for my insurance. He did not follow their order and it took over a year to get them to uphold their ruling. Thru no fault of my own I was without insurance. My car broke down and I was walking a total of 80 some miles a week back and forth to my jobs just to keep them when I was hit by a drunk driver. I would find out moments later he had no insurance and had no legal right to even drive. I was injured but I still had a job to get to and I had no insurance. With my leg swollen like a balloon and a huge red mark that covered my entire torso where the car struck me not to mention a bunch of cuts and scrapes I got up and walked on to work. By the time I finished my job I couldnt breath, my huge red torso was now dark purple and I was terrified. I called a friend and asked for a ride home. When they saw
    me they insisted I go to the ER. I cried telling them I had no insurance and that I couldnt go. They took me home at my demand but before they got me settled in the pain was so bad inside my belly i dropped. They scooped me up and TOOK me to the ER. After a ton of tests(and money) they found broken ribs and severe bruising but no internal injury. It took 4 months for my body to not be black and blue. I never missed a day of work. Try to mop your kitchen with a broken rib. I mopped 12000 sq ft a night with 5 broken ribs plus trash, ect.

    But that care WASN’T FREE. Long before I was healed the bills came and when I couldnt pay them I got sued. I sent in payments- every extra cent I had trying to keep them from starting to sue me. I took my check stubs down there, along with my bills and I showed them I had 10.00 per month left and I paid that every month. But still they sued and won. I owed the bills. Well now it shows up on my credit. I couldnt buy a car or a home if I could afford to. I have a huge judgement against me. I can’t go to a place and get a cell phone. I have to use a prepaid carrier. Free my ass. This cost me so dearly in so many ways in addition to cash.. and here is what it taught me: FEAR! That lump in my breast ? Guess what? I won’t be going to have it looked at any time soon ! Holy shit look at the trouble one day caused me!!!! What if I had to have surgery or some long term treatment? After my first experience I think I would rather die. I have a tooth that I lost a crown in and i rinse with 91% alcohol to keep an infection at bay. Free my ass! It will cost me court fees..IF a person is a honest person who pays it costs a ton more than the bills actually were.

    And free? Really? Cause if I had decided not to pay then what? The hospital would just be out the money and guess who they would pass those bills on to.

    So to hell with me..cause I just used myself as an example but why are people letting mittwitt get away with that comment from Meet The Press and then claim how damn compassionate he is? Why has no one called him out on this “FREE MEDICAL CARE” BULLSHIT! Sorry but thats what it is. It is not free for me or you and it costs us all a lot more when one of us in the lazy moocher class has to use it.

    With that said I want to form a super pac and a lobbiest group and call it the 47%.And thats no bullshit.

  13. justme,
    I’m with you.
    You had a REAL horror story.
    Mine’s nowhere near yours, but I still owe over $550 to a local ER, even though they didn’t do sh*t, except have a Doctor look at me, and, without any diagnostic tests, said I either had a really bad stomach virus, or food poisoning, and to just let it pass. Gee, really? Thanks, and here I thought I was discharging from two orifices out of sheer joy.
    That little meeting cost me almost $1,000 – of which I’ve paid half, but refuse to pay the rest.

    It took me several more doctor’s visits over 2 months, before I got better. So, with no insurance, and the doctors visits and diagnostic tests, and several medicines that did little, that little illness, when I finally got over it, cost me over $2,500! And that came out of my depleted 401K Plan – and I’m still paying Federal Taxes, and WILL pay for 3 more years, for cashing out early.

    MITT DON’T KNOW SH*T!!!

  14. justme277, wow, I should be speechless, but I have to say, “You’re a better man (person) than I am.”

    Your story is a great example of what I would like to think of as the real American wealth, the determination, resourcefulness and honesty of people like you. Our healthcare system has obviously failed a lot of hard working responsible people. I hate it when people suggest that anyone “can just go to the ER”. It’s immediate proof that they haven’t got a clue how our healthcare system actually works or how medicine is practiced in the US. Guys like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan should be sentenced to a few years of working in ER’s and trauma wards. But, even then they probably wouldn’t get it. Maybe if they had to do follow ups on outcomes.

    That being said, not everyone is hard working and responsible. We have to face the fact that for various reasons, some people make awful decisions and bring injury to themselves or others. I used to have a lot of clients that were not well educated, in fact, probably not educable. There was not a way for them to be self sufficient and productive. There were just too many strikes against them. But, you know what? I think people deserve to be cared for and educated to the extent of their abilities and given as good a chance as possible. I think they are ENTITLED to decent healthcare and a shot at happiness, not just because we’re all Americans, but because we’re all human beings.

    Sorry, I better stop this, I am getting too emotional. Just imagine if I were Latino!

  15. I was looking over the comments and i realized that in my comment prior to the last one I meant to begin the second paragraph “I know a few young people SERVING IN THE MILITARY just starting life with a family.

  16. Justme, ya made me cry girl….
    I’m so sorry you’ve been through so much crap.
    I have a friend who has worked hard in the trades all of his life, it all fell apart for him about three years ago. He got a DUI, lost his license and his job. His wife decided to drive his truck while on pain medication and totaled the truck. Several months later, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcenoma; he had been ignoring that sore that would not heal because he couldn’t afford to go to a doctor (no job, no insurance).
    It has been a NIGHTMARE for him, you can’t manage cancer from the ER, and he has had a bear of a time getting treatment and food stamps. You also can’t work when you’re getting chemo (unless your job does not require using your brain or body)
    Our dipshit teabagger governor has been trying to require all people who get welfare or food stamps to be drug tested; who needs that crap?

  17. justme277 ….I hear ya, and I hear you clearly! I gotta say without detracting from your suffering or making light of your situation, this brought a smile to my face.. “Try to mop your kitchen with a broken rib”. I’ve had to soldier on myself with busted ribs and it makes you want to talk to God just so somebody in the universe can understand the intensity of the pain. Try laughing with broken ribs, try breathing with busted ribs, let alone having to working with broken ribs. Thanks for sharing.

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