Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Time once again for Steve Benen's weekly fact check of the shameless shapeshifter and pathological liar, Willard "Mittens" Romney. Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXXII:
Jon Chait noted
the other day that Mitt Romney "has built his entire campaign on, well,
lies." Jon made the observation in passing, but it struck me as
significant, especially as the Republican National Convention unfolded
— Romney isn't the first national politician to try to deceive the
public, but he's arguably the first to build his entire campaign around
the deceptions.
Kevin Drum was thinking along the same lines
responding to Romney's lie on welfare policy, which the candidate has
vowed to continue repeating, even after it's been proven false.
In the past, you felt that maybe campaigns were at least a little bit
embarrassed about this kind of thing. They'd blame it on someone else.
They'd try to produce some lame defense. They'd haul out some fake white
paper to give themselves cover. They'd do something. The Romney campaign just doesn't seem to care. If it works, they use it. It's like the campaign is being run by cyborgs.
Thomas Mann, a longtime political scholar at the center-left Brookings Institution and a respected Beltway voice, added,
"The Romney campaign has, as is strikingly evident at the Tampa
convention, broken new ground in its brazen and cynical disregard for
the truth."
Love Romney or hate him, it's an experiment of sorts
— we're seeing the first real-world test of a post-truth campaign. Team
Romney lies, without shame, because it's certain the line between fact
and fiction has been blurred out of existence, and if lies will give
Romney vast power, the ends justify the means.
But for those who still like to think reality has some
meaning, I hope they'll take some time to consider the 32nd installment
of my weekly series, chronicling Mitt's mendacity. (For the record,
this week, I'm only including falsehoods from Romney himself. Including
every lie told at the convention would have caused a mendacity
overdose.)
1. In Romney's acceptance speech last night, he
said, "Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh
excitement about the possibilities of a new president. That president
was not the choice of our party but Americans always come together after
elections."
Actually, congressional Republicans decided early on that they would refuse to come together and work with President Obama, no matter what he offered in terms of policies. This began before Inauguration Day, when GOP leaders decided they simply would not cooperate or compromise with Democrats.
2.
Romney added that Obama "took office without the basic qualification
that most Americans have and one that was essential to his task. He had
almost no experience working in a business."
First, the president has experience working in business.
Second, lots of successful presidents didn't come from the private
sector (and lots of lousy presidents were businessmen). And third, it's
obvious that Romney doesn't believe his own rhetoric, because if he did,
he wouldn't have picked Paul Ryan as his running mate — Ryan has far
less private-sector experience than Obama.
3. Romney went on to say, "[T]he centerpiece of the President's entire re-election campaign is attacking success."
For
one thing, Romney has never been able to point to a single instance in
which Obama has attacked success. For another, we're having a hell of a
lot more success now than we were four years ago.
4. Romney added, "[T]his president cannot tell us that you are better off today than when he took office."
Of
course he can. I'm not sure who Romney is referring to you with "you,"
but for Americans, economic growth, job creation, the stock market, the
auto industry, the deficit, and the manufacturing sector are all better
off now than in January 2009.
5. Romney complained, "[G]asoline prices have doubled."
To call this comically misleading would be an understatement.
Continue Reading Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXXII.
Previous editions of Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity: Vol. I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII,XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX, XXXI