Hurricane Relief- Romney/Ryan Style
You've got to love this story from Buzzfeed:
"Ryan 'Packs' Hurricane Relief Donations In During Wisconsin Photo-Op
Campaign operatives slowed down the packing to leave some for Republican Vice Presidential candidate to pose with... "Start Packing."
The order was given by a campaign staffer about 20 minutes before PaulRyan entered the GOP victory office here. Two dozen campaign staffers and volunteers pulled boxes from under six tables laden canned food and dry goods to be shipped to New Jersey for storm relief.
Just across the tables were an equal number of reporters, videographers and photographers.
...the packing was proceeding too quickly, and the supporters wearing red "Team Wisconsin" t-shirts were given the order to slow down and then to stop to be sure there were still goods to be packed when Ryan entered. One by one the boxes were filled and loaded into a waiting U-Haul, and then they stopped to wait for the candidate."
Not is there no mendacity so big that they are ashamed of it, there is no mendacity so small that they are above it. There have always been lying politicians. Not all of them- Obama has been so truthful in general that the Republicans have been reduced to claiming that campaign promises he couldn't keep due to their own intransigence are lies. But many politicians lie; just never on the breathtaking a-lie-is-always-preferable-to-the-truth scale that we have seen with Romney and Ryan.
The press has even been a little better than normal at pointing this out. But that is all meaningless. Romney and Ryan know perfectly well that anyone who is so ignorant that they still are capable of being persuaded, will see hundreds of their lying commercials on TV, and will never be paying enough attention to hear the rebuttals. That is what they are betting on at this point- that they can sell a total lie to the American people, or at least to keep things close enough that they can go the rest of the way by cheating. And it looks like their plan has a pretty good chance of working.
But, God, There's More. I didn't have this post up for ten minutes before I discovered that Romney had been indulging himself in the same sort of sham. Here's a Buzzfeed story about Romney's much-covered "hurricane relief" effort in Ohio:
"The plan was for supporters to bring hurricane relief supplies to the event and then deliver the bags of canned goods, packages of diapers, and cases of water bottles to the candidate, who would be perched behind a table along with a slew of volunteers and his Ohio right-hand man, Senator Rob Portman. To complete the project and photo op, Romney would lead his crew in carrying the goods out of the gymnasium and into the Penske rental truck parked outside.
But the last-minute nature of the call for donations left some in the campaign concerned that they would end up with an empty truck. So the night before the event, campaign aides went to a local Wal-Mart and spent $5,000 on granola bars, canned food, and diapers to put on display while they waited for donations to come in, according to one staffer."
Because, of course, Romney supporters are too damned greedy to actually show up with donations for someone they don't even know. So much for the Republican notion of private charity solving all problems.
There is just no lie too petty for them to tell. And, come January 20th, these guys could be running the country.
"Ryan 'Packs' Hurricane Relief Donations In During Wisconsin Photo-Op
Campaign operatives slowed down the packing to leave some for Republican Vice Presidential candidate to pose with... "Start Packing."
The order was given by a campaign staffer about 20 minutes before PaulRyan entered the GOP victory office here. Two dozen campaign staffers and volunteers pulled boxes from under six tables laden canned food and dry goods to be shipped to New Jersey for storm relief.
Just across the tables were an equal number of reporters, videographers and photographers.
...the packing was proceeding too quickly, and the supporters wearing red "Team Wisconsin" t-shirts were given the order to slow down and then to stop to be sure there were still goods to be packed when Ryan entered. One by one the boxes were filled and loaded into a waiting U-Haul, and then they stopped to wait for the candidate."
Not is there no mendacity so big that they are ashamed of it, there is no mendacity so small that they are above it. There have always been lying politicians. Not all of them- Obama has been so truthful in general that the Republicans have been reduced to claiming that campaign promises he couldn't keep due to their own intransigence are lies. But many politicians lie; just never on the breathtaking a-lie-is-always-preferable-to-the-truth scale that we have seen with Romney and Ryan.
The press has even been a little better than normal at pointing this out. But that is all meaningless. Romney and Ryan know perfectly well that anyone who is so ignorant that they still are capable of being persuaded, will see hundreds of their lying commercials on TV, and will never be paying enough attention to hear the rebuttals. That is what they are betting on at this point- that they can sell a total lie to the American people, or at least to keep things close enough that they can go the rest of the way by cheating. And it looks like their plan has a pretty good chance of working.
But, God, There's More. I didn't have this post up for ten minutes before I discovered that Romney had been indulging himself in the same sort of sham. Here's a Buzzfeed story about Romney's much-covered "hurricane relief" effort in Ohio:
"The plan was for supporters to bring hurricane relief supplies to the event and then deliver the bags of canned goods, packages of diapers, and cases of water bottles to the candidate, who would be perched behind a table along with a slew of volunteers and his Ohio right-hand man, Senator Rob Portman. To complete the project and photo op, Romney would lead his crew in carrying the goods out of the gymnasium and into the Penske rental truck parked outside.
But the last-minute nature of the call for donations left some in the campaign concerned that they would end up with an empty truck. So the night before the event, campaign aides went to a local Wal-Mart and spent $5,000 on granola bars, canned food, and diapers to put on display while they waited for donations to come in, according to one staffer."
Because, of course, Romney supporters are too damned greedy to actually show up with donations for someone they don't even know. So much for the Republican notion of private charity solving all problems.
There is just no lie too petty for them to tell. And, come January 20th, these guys could be running the country.
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