Last Call

Conservative pundit David Frum bravely supports Mitt Romney based on the argument that the Republican party will be far less insane and far less likely to wreck the country with Obama gone.

The question over his head is not a question about him at all. It's a question about his party - and that question is the same whether Romney wins or loses. The congressional Republicans have shown themselves a destructive and irrational force in American politics. But we won't reform the congressional GOP by re-electing President Obama. If anything, an Obama re-election will not only aggravate the extremism of the congressional GOP, but also empower them: an Obama re-election raises the odds in favor of big sixth-year sweep for the congressional GOP - and very possibly a seventh-year impeachment. A Romney election will at least discourage the congressional GOP from deliberately pushing the US into recession in 2013. Added bonus: a Romney presidency likely means that the congressional GOP will lose seats in 2014, as they deserve.

Kevin Drum calls Frum out:

But instead, Frum makes the most overt form of the surrendering-to-terrorists argument that I've seen yet. If Obama wins, congressional Republicans will go completely ape and destroy the country. They will deliberately tank the economy and then impeach the president. Therefore, we have to give into them and turf Obama out of office.

It's appalling that people are seriously making this argument. What's worse, it's the relatively sensible people who are making it. This is simply nuts. No country can survive with this attitude. If congressional Republicans are truly a destructive and irrational force in American politics—and God knows, I agree with Frum about that—the answer is to fight them, not to surrender to them. That way lies madness.

The problem is House Republicans are insane.  The answer is to get rid of House Republicans.

Deriders Of The Storm

Via David Roberts over at the Grist, this crushing ad is the difference between Romney and Obama, period.



It was done by Climate Silence, and they want to get this ad on the air in the last days of the campaign.  I'm thinking they will.

Romney's Political Epitaph

Gotta have some calls for Obama to go into the Future Stupidity files for Wednesday morning, right?  Here's Dem strategist Bob Shrum at the Daily Beast:

Go all the way back to Nov. 18, 2008, when Romney wrote that op-ed in The New York Times headlined: “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” Few pieces have had as long or relevant a political life. Michigan, Mitt’s original home state, and Ohio, home to 850,000 auto industry-related jobs, have proved stubbornly resistant to a Republican nominee who seems so conspicuously hostile to their livelihoods. If the President carries both states, Romney’s prospects next Tuesday look about as promising as the Edsel’s in the 1950s. For those too young to remember it, the car was a landmark flop. Wikipedia offers a commonly accepted explanation: it was “a supreme example of the corporate culture’s failure to understand American consumers.” 

Romney’s op-ed was a supreme example of a corporate guy’s failure to understand American voters. He can quibble that he favored “a managed bankruptcy”—without the use of federal funds. The Obama campaign—and most experts—respond that in the depth of the financial crisis, there was no private capital available to keep the auto companies in business while they were reorganized. That’s true, but almost beside the point. What’s indelible, immediately apprehensible, persistently top-of-mind is the headline itself. Romney could have claimed he didn’t write it; he didn’t. He could have argued it wasn’t what he meant. Instead, he doubled down, telling an interviewer: “That’s exactly what I said—the headline you read—‘Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.’”

Shrum states Romney lost Ohio and Michigan, and Pennsylvania and the upper Midwest because of that op-ed piece, and with it the presidency.  But Romney's collapse in the second debate was just as bad:

Romney’s colossal mistake on Libya in the second debate also prepared the way for the real October surprise, the bromance between the President and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Mitt was slapped down for politicizing Libya in that debate—and reproved by moderator Candy Crowley for being outright wrong on whether Obama had called the attack an “act of terror.” The GOP nominee refused to venture back into the controversy the next time the two candidates met. He had disabled himself; despite the fevered advice of the neocons, and the relentless conspiracy-mongering of the embittered John McCain, Romney was quiescent. And the real issue at stake wasn’t just foreign policy, where Obama is far ahead, but ultimately the quality and character of his Presidential leadership. The response to Hurricane Sandy was the sequel— and the President’s most powerful and persistent validator was Romney’s convention keynoter, Chris Christie. He showered praise on Obama as “wonderful”—and added: “If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me.”

Oh, and guess who Politico is reporting today as Romney's first choice for VP?

One of the most tantalizing subplots of the 2012 campaign has been the curious and sometimes controversial performances of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Now, campaign insiders tell POLITICO that Christie was Mitt Romney’s first choice for the Republican ticket, lending an intriguing new context to the continuing drama around the Garden State governor.

Oh, that would have been even worse for Romney.

Furlong's Furlough

Edward Furlong is officially unemployed after his domestic violence arrest at LAX Tuesday morning -- because TMZ has learned, producers have dropped Furlong's ass from his new film.

Furlong was scheduled to catch a flight to Detroit before the arrest -- where filming for his new movie "Misled" was supposed to begin last Thursday -- but the guy got busted instead ... after allegedly getting physical with his girlfriend during an argument.

Furlong obviously missed his flight as a result, and according to a producer for his new movie, he also missed important rehearsals and wardrobe prep as well.

Details are scarce.  Some say it was a single slap, some say it was a beatdown.  The poor woman deserves privacy, and I hope it's respected.  Furlong is a troubled man who just can't seem to get ahead because of preventable stupidity like this.  It's the same for many people out there, who know better and just can't quite do better.

All around it's just sad.  Maybe he can get help before the next round.

Screwed Over By A Hooker, Hof Sues

Real pimps don't slap their hoes when they fall outta line, they SUE them ... at least according to the owner of the world famous Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada who just filed a lawsuit against one of his hookers. 

According to the suit, filed in Nevada, Jimi signed an exclusive whore deal with the Ranch back in 2010 ... in which she agreed to pay Dennis 50% of the cash she made from hooking, plus $25 per day. 

Hof also claims Jimi agreed to pay 50% of any gifts she received from any of her johns. 

But in his suit, Hof says Jimi was screwing around behind his back -- because he got a call from an upset customer named "Richard" who says he'd been showering Jimi with lavish gifts and cash for years ... and finally felt like she was "pumping him for more money."

"Richard" allegedly says he took Jimi all over the world -- including Tahiti, Jamaica and Bora Bora. He also says he bought Jimi Chanel purses, diamond bracelets and pearl earrings. Total value of the gifts -- MORE THAN $300,000.

It's legal, and it looks too me like he has caught her in a very expensive scam.  I'm frankly more amazed that someone would spend that money on a prostitute, not because I am implying they are lesser people but because that's a freaking ton of money to drop on anyone.  But especially someone you know is involved in a trade that negotiates and scams.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out in court.

Yet Another One For The Future Fire

This time it's DC Examiner senior pundit Michael Barone predicting the Romney landslide.

Fundamentals usually prevail in American elections. That's bad news for Barack Obama. True, Americans want to think well of their presidents and many think it would be bad if Americans were perceived as rejecting the first black president.

But it's also true that most voters oppose Obama's major policies and consider unsatisfactory the very sluggish economic recovery -- Friday's jobs report showed an unemployment uptick.

Also, both national and target state polls show that independents, voters who don't identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans, break for Romney.

That might not matter if Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 39 to 32 percent, as they did in the 2008 exit poll. But just about every indicator suggests that Republicans are more enthusiastic about voting -- and about their candidate -- than they were in 2008, and Democrats are less so.

Polls don't matter.  What Michael Barone thinks of polls does. 

Bottom line: Romney 315, Obama 223. That sounds high for Romney. But he could drop Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and still win the election. Fundamentals.

Barone has Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Iowa as Romney locks, with likely wins in PA and WI.