Why Do We Fall Sir? So That We Might Learn To Pick Ourselves Up.

Last night was, to put it mildly, a difficult night.  I don't really know what to say that hasn't already been said by others elsewhere.  The results were troubling in many respects and, frankly, I have grave fears for the future of this country.  But we have no choice but to pick ourselves up.  How do we do that?  I'm not exactly sure, but I think these two articles are on the right track:

Courage For The Long War Ahead

The Long Game

It's not politics that make the country.  It's culture.  Conservatives/libertarians often overlook that, but cannot afford to do so any longer.

As the name implies, I started this blog with one objective in mind.  Clearly I fell short, but life goes on.  I had debated whether I would continue blogging after the election, in one form or another.  For now at least, I think the answer is no.  I am going to take some time to regroup, focus on my family and my work, and find new ways to fight.  We lost a major battle, but I'm not ready to concede the war or my country.

Here We Go

I just got home from work, made my last few calls for the Romney Campaign to get out the vote (you can still call, if you have time), and am ready to settle in with a drink and watch the results come in.

If you haven't voted yet, GET TO YOUR POLLING PLACE NOW.

Otherwise, I don't expect to post much tonight, but will instead refer you to the following, who will do a far better job of keeping you informed for election night coverage:

Hotair

Instapundit

Ace

Vodkapundit

Legal Insurrection

Powerline

This Is It

I'm getting ready to head to the polls to vote.  Do the same.  And then make sure every Romney supporter you can find also does the same.  Trust me, you do not want to be sitting at home tonight wishing you had done more.  Do not leave anything on the table. 

Here is more advice on what you can do today.

And don't be swayed by any dirty tricks played by the Obama campaign/media.  Let's just get it done.  Then the celebrating begin.

With A Whimper?

Obama Ends Campaign In Half-Empty Arena.

Vote Fraud

Who You Gonna Call?

Via Instapundit.

What's Our Theme For the Day?

Get out and vote!  Listen to the whole thing.

Vodkapundit - Wargaming: The Final Edition

Click away.

Tea Leaves

Via Charlie Martin - Rasmussen Voter Identification: R+6.

As the chart shows, this represents a roughly 13 point swing from November.  If this is accurate (and who knows what is accurate, all the polls are way off and Romney is going to win in a landslide.  For example, CNN's latest poll has the race tied with a D+11 sample.  Rasmussen's own poll is still using a D+2 sample to show Romey up 1.

What does all this mean?  Get out the vote tomorrow.  Those will be the only numbers that matter and this country cannot afford to get them wrong.   

Confidence

Via Gateway Pundit:  RNC Political Director Rick Wiley released a statement today.
Republican insiders are very confident going into the election tomorrow.

The Obama camp has been firing off a number of memos in desperate attempt to convince the media (and themselves) that they’re not losing. What they aren’t telling you is this isn’t 2008; the numbers show we’re doing much better in early voting, and they are doing much worse.

But more importantly we are poised to blow the Obama campaign out on Election Day thanks to a superior GOTV program and a historical GOP Election Day advantage . . . .

So, when you add it all up, the Democrats’ early vote advantage just isn’t big enough. Republicans will come out ahead, and Mitt Romney will claim victory. And our superior ground game will ensure that the margin of victory is even greater than these numbers would suggest.

The Obama campaign’s superior ground game is a myth. They claim they have double and triple the people and offices across the country, yet poll after poll has shown voters have been contacted equally if not more by the Romney campaign and the Republicans. It goes to show you what big government bureaucracy gets you.

I’m glad Democrats are so eager to talk about their ground game. The more they talk, the more they prove the numbers don’t add up.

By contrast:  Obama Campaign - Remain calm, and don’t let tomorrow’s early tallies get you down

Making Calls For Romney

I implore you to do the same.

GEN Tommy Franks, GEN Hugh Shelton Among 500 American Warriors to Run Full-Page Ad Endorsing Mitt Romney For President

PJ Tatler reports.

Romney Rally In Pennsylvania Appears To Be Overflowing

I'm watching now.  Looks like there may be more than 30,000 people there. 

Red Rocks

Hat tip to Ace.

Obama's Katrina?

America's Northeast Suffers As President Puts Re-Election Ahead Of Relief.

Not that you will see anyone in the legacy media making the comparison.

Mittmentum

I have been making calls from home for the Romney Campaign, but thought I would take a break for some lunch and a polling update.

Latest polls from Michigan and Pennsylvania (both states Obama thought he would win easily) both show virtual ties. 

Plus:  A prediction from Charlie Martin:  Romney 341 Obama 197.

Good News - Dan Riehl Appears to Be On The Mend

Riehl: 

As my progress, prospects and prognosis regarding both health and blogging can now be filed under long-term and positive, there’s no urgency, which would only distract from what we’ve all fought for these last 4 years – beating Obama and winning with Romney at the polls on November 6th.

I currently effort to help there as I can and ensure my own ability to fight even harder another day, as no matter the outcome this week, I trust we will all again share that priority as happy warriors in the very near future. As for certain support, I didn’t even sign in to PayPal to check until today. It was awe inspiring to see. The thoughtfulness and generosity of the people on the Right speaks volumes for us as a treasured movement in which I’ve been honored to participate these past many years. Continuing to do that in the future remains a key priority for me.

Navy SEALS Ad Blasting Obama

 

 

Plus:  The mother of murdered State Department employee Sean Patrick Smith told reporters this week, “I believe that Obama murdered my son.”

The Ground Glass Election

Glenn Reynolds:

For a lot of people, the thought is that four years of Obama might be damaging but survivable, while eight years of Obama might -- in the president's own words -- "fundamentally transform America" in a way that they don't like.

Ultimately, the question is whether "a lot of people" will be enough people to overcome Obama's own showing-up mechanisms, which include unions' formidable get-out-the-vote operations and the still-extant remnants of organizations like ACORN.

There's no way to know the answer to that until next week. But if the answer is important to you, I have one suggestion: Show up.

Drip Drip Drip

Fox News Exclusive: Security officials on the ground in Libya challenge CIA account.

Mittmentum

Jay Cost:  Why Romney Is Likely to Win.

Related:  Obama Attracting Smaller Crowds than McCain in ’08

Vote for revenge . . . or love of country?

Althouse (a former Obama voter, who yesterday revealed her support for Romney):  This clip neatly embodies a reason why I believe Romney will win. He feels like optimism, and Obama — who once owned the word "hope" — seems petulant, divisive, and ungrateful.

By the way, revenge for what?

Mittmentum

A few days ago, Karl Rove came out with his prediction that Mitt Romney would win the election. 

Yesterday,  Michael Barone did the same, only with a bigger spread.

It seems worth noting that both men also predicted Obama's victory in 2008.

Firewall: Falling On Principal

Report: Ambassador Stevens Called For Help During Benghazi Attack, Got None

Chaffetz also told van Susteren that Gen. Carter Ham, former head of U.S. Africa command, "personally" told him that “he did not get a directive from the White House, from the president of the United States to engage in the fire fight to help protect those people.”

Plus:  Benghazi consulate warned 3 hours before attack of militia gathering arms.

And:  Fox News defends Benghazi “stand down” report against new CIA timeline released.

Perspective

Six Enormous Stakes In Presidential Election.

Where I Beg And Plead

After a campaign that has gone on for, what feels like, four years now, we are in the home stretch.  Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.  That's it.  On Tuesday, we will hopefully be celebrating the election of a new president.  But to get us there, you need to do your part. 

Now obviously, you need to make sure you get to the polls and cast your vote for Romney.  But that's not enough.  Make sure any Republican family or friends you have also get to the polls.  If you know independents or Democrats who can be persuaded, persuade them and then get them to the polls.

And then go still beyond that.  If you live in a swing state, locate your nearest Romney Victory Center and get directly involved.  Distribute literature in your neighborhood, knock on doors, and make calls.  Volunteer as a poll watcher.  If you don't live in a swing state or can't make it to a Victory Center, make calls from home.  All you have to do is go here and follow the instructions.  It's free, it's easy, and it can be done at your convenience (anytime between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.).  And it makes all the difference.  Elections are won and lost with the ground game. 

So don't be caught sitting on the sidelines.  Act as if your way of life depends on it.  It does.  Act as if the future of your country depends on it.  It does.  Come Tuesday night, you don't want to be wishing you had done more.

If you have any questions or further advice to give, leave it in the comments. 

October's Dismal "New Normal" Jobs Report

James Pethokoukis analyzes the data here.  Read the whole thing, but here is the bottom line:

Anemic economic growth of around 2% not only puts the U.S. economy at heightened risk of recession, but is also too slow to a) generate enough jobs to quickly close the jobs gap, and b) boost take-home pay. Anyone satisfied with or hyping this report does a great disservice to the America worker.
 

 


Plus:  Additional thoughts from Ed Morrissey.

In just four more days, we can set a new course.

Fred Thompson "Totally Disgusted" By Obama Administration's Handling of Benghazi Terrorist Attack

Via The Other McCain: 

[T]he former Republican senator from Tennessee invoked his experience nearly 40 years ago as a Watergate investigator, saying that Congress must “get to the bottom of” the administration’s failures in the Sept. 11 incident that left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead in Libya.

“This is probably the biggest cover-up in American history – and you’re talking to an expert in cover-ups,” Thompson said

Freedom to Succeed

This ad has been put out by an immigrant who fled socialist Hungary to make an incredible success for himself in the United States.  It's a stirring message and one that should hopefully resonate:

The Las Vegas Review-Journal Not Only Endorses Romney . . .

It Excoriates Obama as "Unworthy" while slamming him on everything from foreign policy and Benghazi to the economy and energy.

Read the whole thing.  And hat tip to Instapundit.

Plus: Survey USA Nevada Poll - Freakout time for Dems.

It Just Keeps Getting Worse And Worse

More and more information continues to trickle out about the attack on our Benghazi Consulate and CIA annex: Via Hotair:

• Troubling Surveillance Observed Outside Consulate Before Attack
• Today, the White House press secretary let it slip during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One that President Obama’s inaction on the Benghazi situation now extends to inaction on the supposed investigation taking place. The administration has still not made clear what exactly is being investigated, or the extent of the investigation. And President Obama doesn’t much care.
• Senior Department of Defense official:  “There was no request from the Department of State to intervene militarily on the night of the attack.”The president, however, would have the final say as to whether or not to send in the military.

Plus - Via Ace:

[D]uring the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Mission in Benghazi, the Obama Administration did not convene its top interagency counterterrorism resource: the Counterterrorism Security Group, (CSG)

"The CSG is the one group that's supposed to know what resources every agency has. They know of multiple options and have the ability to coordinate counterterrorism assets across all the agencies," a high-ranking government official told CBS News. "They were not allowed to do their job. They were not called upon." ...

Counterterrorism sources and internal emails reviewed by CBS News express frustration that key responders were ready to deploy, but were not called upon to help in the attack...

Absent coordination from Counterterrorism Security Group, a senior US counterterrorism official says the response to the crisis became more confused. The official says the FBI received a call during the attack representing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and requesting agents be deployed....

Another senior counter terrorism official says a hostage rescue team was alternately asked to get ready and then stand down throughout the night, as officials seemed unable to make up their minds.

 Sadly, the most shocking thing about this last story may be that it was actually reported on by the legacy media over at CBS News.  It would also seem to confirm the rumors Newt Gingrich referenced Tuesday night.

Excellent

Someone in Point Pleasant, NJ wrote Romney in the sand during Obama's aerial tour of the Jersey Shore.

Culture of Corruption

Via Jammie Wearing Fools: 

President Obama claims that political considerations did not influence the Energy Department’s green energy loan program, but newly-released internal emails show that his administration subsidized Nevada companies in order to help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., win his 2010 reelection campaign.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released emails revealing both that the White House — including the president himself — was involved in approving loans to green energy companies and that the DOE officials regarded loans as a way for the White House to help Reid by giving him a way to brag about bringing federal money into Nevada.

Now just imagine the media's reaction if this were 2004 and the story involved Bush and oil companies.

 

Classified Cable Warned Benghazi Consulate Couldn't Withstand 'Coordinated Attack'

Fox News Exclusive:

While the administration’s public statements have suggested that the attack came without warning, the Aug. 16 cable seems to undercut those claims. It was a direct warning to the State Department that the Benghazi consulate was vulnerable to attack, that it could not be defended and that the presence of anti-U.S. militias and Al Qaeda was well-known to the U.S. intelligence community.

Drip, drip, drip.

A Heartbeat Away

Biden is back on the campaign trail.  Oh, God love him.

Interesting

Newt Gingrich:  I heard networks have emails sent directly from the White House instructing a counter-terrorism group to stand down in Benghazi.

Happy Halloween!

Bloomberg To Obama

Stay Out of NYC.

The View From Ohio

The Other McCain gives a ground game report.

Spoiler Alert:  Conservatives are fired up.

It's What You Can't See

Are we looking at an undertow election?

Mittmentum

Gallup: Romney Up 52-45 Among Early Voters; Obama Down 22 Points Compared to 2008 Edge.

WH Pushes Pic Of Obama In Situation Room For #Sandy,

But Where Was Benghazi Situation Room?

Related:  Former Pacific Fleet chief pulls no punches:

Having been in a number of similar situations, I know you have to have the courage to do what’s right and take immediate action. Obviously, that courage was lacking for Benghazi. The safety of your personnel always remains paramount. With all the technology and military capability we had in theater, for our leadership to have deliberately ignored the pleas for assistance is not only incomprehensible, it is un-American.

Obama's Crisis Management System

Here is an exclusive look.

Oddly, I see parallels to a prior story done here.

Updated: Momentum

Why Romney Will Win.

This helps too.

Update:  Game Over, Man?  To quote the great Glenn Reynolds (who may or may not be quoting someone else), "Don't get cocky, kid."  Remember.  It is still all about who shows up.

Thoughts And Prayers To The Rubio Family.

Marco Rubio Leaves Stump After Daughter Is Injured in Car Crash.

Former National Security Adviser Bud McFarlane: For Obama to Do Nothing During Benghazi Attack is “Dereliction of Duty”

On today's Fox News Special Investigation.

But if you don't watch Fox:  Media Blackout: Aside from FOX, Sunday News Hosts Fail to Raise Benghazi

The "Panetta Doctrine"

And why it doesn't add up.

Hurricane Sandy

If there aren't any blog updates around here for a few days, that means that Hurricane Sandy must have knocked out my power.  At this point, hopefully everyone in its path is prepared, has evacuated if necessary, and is otherwise ready to bunker down for a couple days. 

Assuming you keep your power, you may want to consider doing what I did today.  Make some calls for Mitt Romney.  It's vitally important work, but it couldn't be easier.  Just go to the link, follow the instructions, and then get out the vote, all from the comfort of home.

Remember, no matter what the polls say, it all comes down to who shows up to vote.

Be safe.

Fox News Special Report Investigates - Benghazi

I was watching tv earlier today and stumbled upon a Fox News Special Report on Benghazi.  It's an hour long special that investigates what happened before, during, and after the attack.  I only caught the tail end of the special, but it looks like they are reairing it at 10:00 p.m. 

 

Meanwhile, other networks seem to have taken a different approach to the story:

Hat tip to Instapundit on the cartoon.

Context

Gingrich: Obama Cancels Campaign Trips Due to Hurricane, Didn't Cancel Them Over Benghazi

UPDATED: All Four Major Iowa Papers Endorse Romney

The left leaning paper is the largest in Iowa and had not previously endorsed a Republican presidential candidate in 40 years.

The New York Times streak, by contrast, is at 50 years and still going strong.

Update:  All four major Iowa papers have now endorsed Mitt Romney.

Breaking Through The Firewall

I received an email from the Romney Campaign today.  They are looking to "Expand The Map."

Still Thinking About Voting For Obama?

Hat tip to Common Cents.

Mitt Romney, It's Time For Real Change America

Yesterday, Mitt Romney gave a speech in Iowa in which he clearly laid out his economic vision for America.

Elsewhere, Barack Obama was no doubt giving a speech about Big Bird, birth control, and binders.

Running On Empty

 

The latest Afterburner from Bill Whittle:

 

The key takeaway - "Vote like the future of your children depends on it.  Because it does."

This Just Gets Worse And Worse

CIA ORDERED TO STAND DOWN DURING BENGHAZI ATTACK:

Fox News has learned from sources who were on the ground in Benghazi that an urgent request from the CIA annex for military back-up during the attack on the U.S. Consulate and subsequent attack several hours later was denied by U.S. officials -- who also told the CIA operators twice to "stand down" rather than help the ambassador's team when shots were heard at approximately 9:40 p.m. in Benghazi on Sept. 11 . . . .

One guy was aiming a laser on a ground target, painting it for a plane to see. To drop a bomb, to attack with very heavy machineguns.  

But the laser itself is nothing, absolutely harmless. 

So he sat up there on the roof, risking his life to paint a target with laser light, and no one bothered to send anything to hit that target.  

Who Gave The Order To Let My Son Die?Asks Charles Woods, father of slain SEAL Tyrone Woods. 

Plus:  The CIA has seemingly just thrown the White House under the bus; denying that any order to stand down came from the CIA.

Obama, meanwhile, is ducking questions asking why no help was sent to Benghazi.

And Patterico rightly asks:  At what point does this become a story beyond Fox News?

With all of this new information, let's not lose sight of the fact that, just a few hours after these events unfolded, Obama responded by heading to Las Vegas for a celebrity fundraiser.

Dan Riehl

Blogger Dan Riehl is sick.

And here is the latest update on his condition.

I just hit his tip jar and invite others to do the same.

Who Decided Not To Save Tyrone Woods?

Via Powerline: 

Charles Woods, the father Tyrone Woods, who was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attack at the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, reveals details of meeting Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at the publicly broadcast memorial service for the slain Americans at Andrews Air Force Base only days after the attack. And, in a recent radio appearance, Woods questions who made the call not to send in back-up forces to possibly save his son’s life, as well as the three other Americans killed in Benghazi (which includes the American ambassador to Libya) . . . .

“Well, this is what Hillary did,” Woods continues. “She came over and, you know, did the same thing—separately came over and talked with me. I gave her a hug, shook her hand. And she did not appear to be one bit sincere—at all. And you know, she mentioned that the thing about, we’re going to have that person arrested and prosecuted that did the video. That was the first time I had even heard about anything like that.”

Allahpundit focuses on what I too found to be the most troubling aspect:

What I found significant about this wasn’t the “movie protest” versus “preplanned attack” element, it was the fact that Hillary’s promise of vengeance to the father of a fallen SEAL wasn’t that we’d get the jihadis who killed him but that we’d punish the filmmaker. That’s perverse, but in keeping with the fact that she decided to run ads on Pakistani TV apologizing for the film while Islamist cretins menaced American diplomats across the region. Even if you give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she had no intention of prosecuting the filmmaker but was merely telling Woods something she thought would console him, why on earth would she zero in on the filmmaker as the target of blame instead of the degenerates who actually shot his son? She and O need to answer. Let’s see how much they really value free speech. Simple question for both: Is Woods a liar or not?

Another Endorsement In Another Swing State

The Detroit News Endorses Romney.

Related:  Latest Michigan poll shows a dead heat (Disclaimer:  Poll based on absurdly low response rate)

Obama: Banks Are In It To Make Money; Which Is Why We Need to Regulate Them

Last night, I caught a late night showing of Atlas Shrugged Part II with a friend of mine. Little did I know, at the same time, President Obama was on Leno, doing his best to prove we are now living in Atlas Shrugged.

Romney, not Obama, shows concern for nation's poor

Byron York:  "There's an odd imbalance that few have noticed in this presidential campaign. In the midst of a continuing economic downturn, one candidate talks regularly about poverty, and the other doesn't. The one who does is the Republican, Mitt Romney."

The Obama Doctrine

Via Breitbart.com: 

Victims of the Nov. 2009 Ft. Hood shooting are being denied benefits commensurate with combat injuries because the Obama administration refuses to label the attack an act of terrorism.

Instead, the shooting Maj. Nidal Hasan carried out after screaming "Allahu Akbar" is still being labeled "workplace violence." 

 

Former Top Defense Official: If Your Ambassador Has Been Killed or Captured You Don’t Ask “Mother May I” before You Cross the Border (Video)

Via Gateway Pundit: 

For the United States military to say that they were 480 miles away and they couldn’t do anything, and they couldn’t move one aircraft in 8 hours? I’d say it’s time to relieve a lot of people in the chain of command… If your ambassador has been either killed or captured, and is missing at the hands of terrorists, you do not ask any country for “Mother may I?” before you come across the border to save your own.

What seems so obvious apparently isn't to some people.  Sadly, in this instance, that failure may have cost four American lives.

 

"The Future Of Our Country Is At Stake"

American Crossroads has just released a new ad featuring Clint Eastwood.  Starting today, they will be running it in seven key battleground states.

 

In Eastwood's honor, I'm also going to refer readers to today's Election Day Empty Chair Countdown over at Legal Insurrection.

White House and State Department Told Of Terrorist Claim Two Hours After Libya Attack

And yet, "Administration spokesmen, including White House spokesman Jay Carney, citing an unclassified assessment prepared by the CIA, maintained for days that the attacks likely were a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim film."

As Professor Reynolds notes over at Instapundit, "Mr. Nakoula was unavailable for comment — since, you know, he’s in jail until after the election."

Bayonets, Horses, And Ships, Oh My

J.E. Dyer offers an in-depth critique of President Obama's "horses and bayonets" comment from Monday's debate.  The entire piece is essential reading, but here is a key takeaway:

Romney has articulated a national-security policy that emphasizes building faster and having a larger Navy, one that can better meet the requirements of US policy and the combatant commanders for naval power. Obama has used sophomoric sarcasm to imply that Romney’s approach is ignorant and outdated. That pretty much sums up the choice the voters have between them.

Mittmentum

Rassmussen:  Romney 50, Obama 46.

Gallup:  Romney 51, Obama 45.

Now, take those numbers for what you will.  Just don't get cocky.  Volunteer, donate, and vote.

Apology Tour

One of Mitt Romney's more powerful ads: 

And it should play well, given the growing public opposition to Obama's policy of appeasement.

Final Debate Recap

Once again, I refer readers to Professor Jacobson's roundup of the Best Tweets of the Debate.

Beyond that, I offer my own quick impressions:  Romney played it conservatively tonight.  His goal seemed to be to distinguish himself more from Bush than from Obama.  Personally, I wish that he drew a few more distinctions between himself and Obama, particularly on Libya.  Nevertheless, he came across as presidential.  Someone the American people should be able to trust as commander-in-chief.  That's the most important takeaway from the night.

President Obama, by contrast, came across as someone trying to play catch up.  He tried to be aggressive, but those efforts mostly came across as petty and snarky.  Not qualities most people look for in a president. 

On that score, I think Romney clear won the night.  More importantly, Romney has had the momentum ever since the first debate and he did nothing tonight to lose it.

Third And Final Presidential Debate

Once again, Vodkapundit will, once again, be drunkblogging tonight's debate.

Military Endorsements

Over at The Other McCain, Smitty has compiled a list of the retired flag officers who have endorsed Obama or Romney.  The tally?  Romney 359, Obama 6. 

In September, The Obama Campaign Collected $2,199,204.38 In Donations With Non-Existent Or Invalid ZIP Codes.

The Romney Campaign's September total, by contrast, $29,620.

I'm sure the legacy media will be running with this story . . . first thing November 7.

October Surprise?

According to the Iranian regime, the Obama Administration sent them a secret message through the swiss embassy:

“Firstly, during the session to submit the message, the Swiss ambassador to Tehran quoted the US president as saying that ‘we (the US) recognize your nuclear rights’.”

As regards the second issue, the lawmaker said that the Swiss diplomat had also quoted Obama as saying that “I didn’t want to impose sanctions on your central bank but I had no options but to approve it since a Congress majority had approved the decision.”

Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.

Foreign Policy

Here is Drudge's headline in advance of tomorrow's foreign policy debate:

Pretty well sums it up, doesn't it?

Obama = Not Optimal

Obama's America

UN affiliate group to monitor US elections amid concerns of "voter suppression efforts by conservative groups."

This is like a bad joke.

Obama Campaign Accepted Foreign Donation

May be hiding more.

It would be nice if more media outlets started covering this story.

Link via Drudge.

 

"My Son Is NOT Very Optimal . . . He Is Very Dead"

Mother of U.S. diplomat killed in Libya attack slams "insensitive" Obama's comment about security fiasco.

Seems Poetic

Obama Campaign Borrows $15 million from Bank of America.

The Real Mitt Romney

Let's hope that more media outlets finally start telling this story (though I won't be holding my breath).

Is Atlas Shrugging?

The latest Instavision - Job Creators Are Giving Up on the U.S. Economy.



 

Former Obama Advisor: Our Foreign Policy Is A Mess — Especially In The Middle East

Via Hot Air:  

Despite some successes large and small, Obama’s foreign policy has disappointed many who initially supported him. The Middle East initiatives heralded in his 2009 Cairo speech fizzled or never got started at all, and the Middle East today is more volatile than ever. The administration’s response to the escalating violence in Syria has consisted mostly of anxious thumb-twiddling. The Israelis and the Palestinians are both furious at us. In Afghanistan, Obama lost faith in his own strategy: he never fought to fully resource it, and now we’re searching for a way to leave without condemning the Afghans to endless civil war. In Pakistan, years of throwing money in the military’s direction have bought little cooperation and less love.

The Russians want to reset the reset, neither the Chinese nor anyone else can figure out what, if anything, the “pivot to Asia” really means, and Latin America and Africa continue to be mostly ignored, along with global issues such as climate change. Meanwhile, the administration’s expanding drone campaign suggests a counterterrorism strategy that has completely lost its bearings – we no longer seem very clear on who we need to kill or why.

Read the whole thing . . . and then look forward to Monday's foreign policy debate.

Who Knew Romney Was So Funny?

Mitt Romney And Barack Obama both attended the Al Smith Dinner in New York on Friday.  In his speech, Romney got off a number of good lines at the expense of himself, Obama, and the media, among other.

Obama also had his jokes and one liners.  He took a lot of shots at himself over his first debate performance.

You Don't Need A Weatherman . . .

The Orlando Sentinel, which endorsed Obama in 2004, has endorsed Mitt Romney.

As has the Tennessean, the liberal paper that previously endorsed Gore (also a former employee, Kerry, and Obama.

The New York Observer.

And even the Chicago Jewish Star, which observes:  "It is not only that Mr. Obama thus deserves to be a one-term proposition; it is that Mr. Romney is simply the better bet for our country.”

Consequences

Prepping for Obamacare, restaurant chains cut workers' hours.

Michelle Obama: "We Are In The Midst Of A Huge Recovery."

Reality:  Not so much.

"Act of Terror"

Bill Clinton: Romney Is Right, Obama Hasn't Fixed The Economy.

Anyone else get the feeling the Clinton will be voting for Romney?

Imagine That

Breitbart.com:  On CNN's "State of the Union" on September 30, Candy Crowley asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) why he thought it took the administration 17 days after the Benghazi attacks to give a "sort of definitive statement" that terrorists orchestrated the attacks.

Plus:  Crowley Let Obama Have Last Word 8 out of 11 times.

And:  Crowley Interrupts Romney 28 Times, Obama Just 9.

Scary Chart of The Day

This is not what a recovery looks like.

Hat tip to Powerline for the chart.

Karl Rove: NO CANDIDATE HAS EVER LOST With Numbers Like What Mitt Romney Has Today

Via Gateway Pundit:  Karl Rove told Megyn Kelly today on America Live that no presidential candidate has ever lost an election leading with over 50 percent of likely voters in mid October.
Mitt Romney has 51 percent of likely voters today.

Obama’s Auto Bailout Was Really a Hefty Union Payoff

Liz Peek: 

Where did that money go? Mainly, it went to paying off debts owed by GM and Chrysler, and – in an historic distortion of our bankruptcy proceedings – to securing the pensions and livelihoods of UAW workers. It turns out the real debt was that of Mr. Obama to organized labor, which had ponied up some $400 million to help him defeat John McCain.

The Obama administration strong-armed the auto companies’ creditors into accepting undeniably unfair terms – terms that saw pensions obliterated for non-union workers but saved for those carrying a UAW card. Terms that saw non-UAW shops close but UAW factories stay open. Terms that doled out ownership in GM with political favoritism as a guiding principle.

Via Instapundit.

Most Powerful Moment Of The Night

Meet The Paul Ryan Girl

Ross Perot Endorses Romney

Perot: 

Our country faces a momentous choice. The fact is the United States is on an unsustainable course. At stake is nothing less than our position in the world, our standard of living at home and our constitutional freedoms.

That is why I am endorsing Mitt Romney for president. We can’t afford four more years in which debt mushrooms out of control, our government grows and our military is weakened

.

Scary Chart Of The Day

Note that the biggest jump in spending, by far, in the last 55+ years comes with the start of the Obama era.  Our federal deficits are primarily driven by a massive spending problem, rather than a revenue problem.

Flashback

Obama 0-4 for 2008 townhall-debate promises.

Post-Debate

Professor Jacobson again gives us the Best Tweets of the Debate.

My quick takeaway:  Obama, with help from the moderator, was better than he was during the first debate, though it would have been near impossible for him to be worse.  Romney was just as good as he was the first time around.

Debate Night - Round Two

Vodkapundit is once again drunkblogging the debate.

Fiscal Discipline

Obama's Changes

The latest music video from Steven Crowder and Chris Loesch:

Scary Chart Of The Day

I think this one definitively disproves the Obama myth that today's deficit is the result of the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Via Instapundit.
 

Obama vs. The Constitution

President runs roughshod over founding document.

The Auto Bailout Was a Failure

For Someone Portrayed As Not Caring About The Poor . . .

He sure has a funny way of showing it - Taxes, charity cost Romney 57.9 percent of income.

Romney paid $10.8 million in taxes and charity last year.  If that's not his fair share, what is?

Romney Rolls In Ohio

York:  "I see Romney momentum in Ohio in several ways," said Mark Weaver, a longtime Republican strategist in Ohio. "People clamoring to get tickets to see him speak, people standing in line to get yard signs and then being upset if they run out, and polling that I see in my other races show him outperforming most other Republican candidates here."

The article also offers this testimonial from a former Obama voter - "I think President Obama tricked me into voting for him," Low continued in an impromptu discussion that could have doubled as a Romney ad. "I feel like he lied to me. He made promises he couldn't keep. He played on my young emotions. He played on me because I was young and naïve. I didn't know anything about the world. I believed that he was going to give us a change. I just feel like he made a lot of promises -- there's no way he followed through with them. I haven't seen any change. I've seen change for the worse, not change for the better. So I hope Mitt Romney can carry us through the next four years."

Is the Benghazi Attack Obama's Madrid Train Bombings?

I was actually living in Madrid at the time of the bombings at the Atocha Train Station and have been drawing the same parallels for a while.  One difference, however, is that Spain's conservative PP did not enjoy the media run interference Obama has.  Still, it is looking less likely that Obama will be able to rely on that holding up until the election.  While it was only a matter of days until the election in Spain, here there will be two months for the truth to reach the American people. 

If This Is Forward . . .

Hat tip to Vodkapundit.

Momentum

As election day nears, Romney crowds are surging.

Hat tip to Drudge. 

It Is Certainly Looking That Way.

Neo-Neocon:  "Is Eastwood clairvoyant?"

UPDATED: He's Going To Need A Bigger Bus

Gateway Pundit:  The White Blames State Dept. For Benghazi Failures.  Clintons Are Furious.

More thoughts over at The Other McCain:  "Here, we have two public figures who both look negligent over a tragedy. And they hold grudges against each other going back. They can both get hammered together, or can try to minimize their damage by pinning blame on the other . . . .  The bad news about this ‘game’ is that the price of admission is four human sacrifices. Those deaths were tragic for the four, and their families. The shame for the United States, and the increased boldness of our enemies, is far worse. "

Biden Always Says What He Means

Catholic Bishops Speak

Joe, you lied.

Sadly, this administration only seems to worry about religious freedom when adherents turn violent.

Benghazi: White House Cover Up or Just Incompetence

Ed Morrissey:  In this case, it’s hard to argue that the cover-up is worse than the “crime” of incompetence that led up to it. After all, four people died in that attack, and perhaps even a higher level of security might not have prevented it. It has become clear, though, that the State Department didn’t recognize that Benghazi and its environs had become a nest of the very terrorists we now fight in places like Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, and other hot spots, and that this was no ordinary case for consular security. Instead of listening to people on the ground and acting to provide some kind of extraordinary security, the Benghazi mission was left to just “hope that everything would get better.”

On top of that, the administration at the very least allowed a false narrative to unfold about the nature of the attack – a narrative that had specific political benefits for President Obama. That might be coincidence, but that’s difficult to believe. At the very least, it shows a remarkable level of incompetence to send the UN Ambassador to five Sunday talk shows five days later to push the false “spontaneous protest” narrative when the White House itself had designated it a terrorist attack within the first 24 hours.

VP Debate Recap

William Jacobson again rounds up the best tweets of the debate.

Remind Me: How Many Died In Watergate?

New evidence on the Libya debacle and false White House spin.

Bottoms Up

Vodkapundit is once again willing to put his liver on the line and drunkblog the vice presidential debate. 

Worse Than Watergate

The Libya Scandal Boils Over.

Momentum

There have been a ton of recent polls showing the race's shift to Romney after last week's debate.  Here are but a few highlights:

Rasmussen has Romney up 2 in a poll of eleven swing states, which includes Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Gallup has Romney up 2 among likely voters.

RCP now even has Romney up 1 in its poll of polls.

Plus:  Vodkapundit is still wargaming the electoral college.

People Died, Obama Lied (And Went to Las Vegas For A Fundraiser)

Actually Happened

Obamacare Fun Facts

Instapundit Guest Blogger Elizabeth Price Foley has done something that even the Democrats in Congress were unwilling to do before passing:  actually read the 2700+ pages of Obamacare.  Having completed that monumental task, she now promises to provide readers with some little know "Obamacare Fun Facts."

Here is Fun Fact #1.  And Fun Fact #2.

Keep an eye on Instapundit for more to come.

The Sickly, Stagnant September Jobs Report

Pethokoukis:  Only in an era of depressingly diminished expectations could the September jobs report be called a good one. It really isn’t. Not at all.

And here is the chart again (where Obama claimed we would be with Stimulus and where we are):

President Empty Chair

Remember when the media was mocking Eastwood's speech?

Honesty

Joe Biden:  Do Obama and I want to raise taxes by $1 trillion?  Yes we do!

Get the Vote Out

Ohio shocker: GOP closes early voting gap, boosting Romney.

Remember.  It's all comes down to who turns out to vote.

Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.

Hmmmmm....

Paul Bedard: 

President Obama's reelection campaign, rattled by his Wednesday night debate performance, could be in for even worse news. According to knowledgeable sources, a national magazine and a national web site are preparing a blockbuster donor scandal story . . . .  

According to the sources, a taxpayer watchdog group conducted a nine-month investigation into presidential and congressional fundraising and has uncovered thousands of cases of credit card solicitations and donations to Obama and Capitol Hill, allegedly from unsecure accounts, and many from overseas. That might be a violation of federal election laws.

Seems hard to believe. 

Recap

Over at Legal Insurrection they have the "Best Tweets of the First Presidential Debate."  They confirm what all the talking heads on Fox News and even CNN are saying, Romney dominated the debate.  If even Carville can't spin it in Obama's favor, that tells you something. 

Update:  Wow!  MSNBC too!

Barack Obama's Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

A summary of Obama's day yesterday.

Debate No. 1

Vodkapundit is doing his civic duty and drunkblogging tonight's debate.

A Post-Racial America? Hardly

Elizabeth Price Foley:

Ah yes, remember those heady days back in 2008, when Americans of all races voted for a young Senator named Barack Hussein Obama in the sincere hope that he would heal this country’s racial divisions, ushering in a new, post-racial era? Fuggedaboutit. It was merely a carefully crafted illusion, intentionally designed to tug on the heart strings of well-meaning, ordinary folks hoping for a color blind society

But Obama showed his real face–the Billy Joel “Stranger”-type freaky face (“Well we all have a face that we hide away forever. And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone.”)– in this Daily Caller video, in a 2008 speech to an audience of black ministers. Copping an insincere, absurd, stereotypical black “accent,” then-candidate Obama repeatedly suggests that the federal government behaves in a purposefully racist manner.

She goes on to add:  "Hopefully, now that we’ve seen The Stranger, we can all vote with our eyes wide open."

Sadly, a quick scan of the major media websites confirms they are doing their best to make sure most Americans never see "The Stranger" (just as they did in 2007).  Comparing the coverage between this video and Romney's "47%" video would be stunning if it weren't all too predictable. The fix is in.  We can only hope that most American's see it.

Obama's Other Race Speech

Daily Caller has the exclusive release of a newly surfaced Obama video from 2007 and offers this summary:

For nearly 40 minutes, using an accent he almost never adopts in public, Obama describes a racist, zero-sum society, in which the white majority profits by exploiting black America.

Click the link for more, including the full video.

Could Republican and Democratic turnout be even this year?

Blatt: 

For the past few weeks, conservatives have been contending that polls giving Obama a substantial margin have done so largely by oversampling Democrats. The most recent CNN poll, for example, favored Democrats by 8 points. In 2008, a year very favorable to the president’s party. Democratic was only 7 points higher than Republican turnout.

This year, most serious pollsters forecast a much narrower Democratic margin. Scott Rasmussen thinks Democrats will likely have a 2-4 point advantage this November. I tend to think it will be loser to 2 points, but sometimes I wonder if Republicans will run even with Democrats, each party’s partisans making up a near identical portion of the electorate.

The last time this happened in a presidential race was 2004 when “Republicans managed to turn out their base at ‘supercharged’ levels.”

I could definitely see it happening, but only if we all do our part to get out the vote.
 

The Libertarian Case For Romney

Stephen Green makes it and it is worth your time.

Bazinga!

 

 

Hat tip to Vodkapundit.

Better Late Than Never?

CNN hits hard on Libya: The only conclusion is that the White House tried to cover something up.

Obama Racks Up Another Endorsement

This time from Venezuala’s Hugo Chavez.

 

For those keeping score, Obama has now racked up endorsements from Chavez, Putin, Ahmadinejad and France’s Socialist President, Hollande.

 

Romney will just have to settle for Walesa and Netanyahu.

Benghazi Worse Than Watergate

Roger L. Simon: 

For over forty years now, the Watergate scandal — the June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the subsequent cover-up by the Nixon administration — has been the sine qua non of American political malfeasance. It has been followed by myriad other “gates” affecting both parties but has never been superseded.

Until now.

Benghazi or Benghazigate, as some call it, is worse. Far worse. Incomparably worse.

Watergate caught numerous public officials lying, including the president of the United States, but Benghazigate has all that and more.

It involves the terrorist murder (not an electorally irrelevant burglary) of government officials, their reckless endangerment, the undermining of the Bill of Rights and free speech by our own administration in response to Islamist threats, and, ultimately, the complicity of that same administration, consciously or unconsciously, in the downfall of Western civilization.

Plus - A video timeline of the cover-up.

Doing What the Legacy Media Won't

Preview of Univision’s “bombshell” report on Fast & Furious.

Legacy Media Downplay (Or Downright Ignore) Obama's September of Incompetence

Via GayPatriot:  "In the month of September, the conservative (and Spanish-language) media (and from a few rogue reporters at ABCNews) reported a number of stories about President Barack Obama all showing his disinterest in or ambivalence toward governing. And yet, outside those pockets at ABC and occasionally on CNN), our legacy media all but ignored (or otherwise downplayed) these stories which called Obama’s competence into question."

Some Good News

Absentee ballot data not looking good for Democrats.

Plus this helpful reminder: 

As always, this election is going to come down to turnout. We got beat badly on the ground in 2008. As of a couple of weeks ago, our side had already surpassed the number of voter contacts made during all of the 2008 season. We are doing much better, but we could still use more help.

Get. In. Volved. If you do, we will propel Mitt Romney to a victory over Barack Obama in Ohio this year. 

Via Instapundit. 

But The Media's Objective Is To Protect Obama, Not Americans

Democrat Kirsten Powers: More Americans will be put in danger if the media doesn’t start challenging the White House on Libya

Priorities

Obama focuses on campaigning, fundraising; Official presidential duties are few and far between.

Our Feckless First Leader

Thomas Sowell: 

During the same week when the American ambassador to Libya was murdered and his dead body dragged through the streets by celebrating mobs, the president of the United States found time to go on the David Letterman show to demonstrate his sense of humor and how cool he is.

But Barack Obama did not have time to meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of a nation repeatedly threatened with annihilation by Iranian leaders who are working feverishly toward the creation of nuclear bombs.

This was an extraordinary thing in itself, something that probably no other president of the United States could have gotten away with without raising a firestorm of criticisms and denunciations. But much of the media sees no evil, hears no evil, and speaks no evil when it comes to Barack Obama — especially during an election year.

Read the whole thing.

Top Five Worst Obamacare Taxes Coming In 2013

Of the twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare, here are the five worst that will be foisted upon Americans for the first time on January 1, 2013.

Narrative Fail

Some Administration Officials Were Concerned About Initial White House Push Blaming Benghazi Attack on Mob, Video.

Plus:  Intercepts showed AQ terrorists celebrating success hours after Benghazi attack.

Smart Diplomacy

Obama had no time to meet with Netanyahu (apparently he needed a siesta), but Romney will be speaking with him today.

I Think It Would Make A Great Bumper Sticker

Courtesy of Vodkapundit.

55 percent of small business owners would not start company today, blame Obama

Gehrke: 

Fifty-five percent of small business owners and manufacturers would not have started their businesses in today’s economy, according to a new poll that also reports 69 percent say President Obama’s regulatory policies have hurt their businesses . . . .

The poll reports another ominous statistic for job creation: “67 percent say there is too much uncertainty in the market today to expand, grow or hire new workers.” Why? Because “President Obama’s Executive Branch and regulatory policies have hurt American small businesses and manufacturers,” according to 69 percent of the business owners surveyed.

Over the Cliff

Durable goods orders drop 13.2% in August; Update: Q2 GDP downgraded from 1.7% to 1.3%

Plus further analysis from James Pethokoukis:  ‘It’s all unraveling’ | Is this the last quarter of the recovery?

Taxpayers Spent $1.4 Billion on Obama Family Last Year

By contrast, British taxpayers spent just $57.8 million on the royal family.

Bombshell

US knew Stevens assassination was work of terrorists within 24 hours of attack.  The Obama administration, with the media's backing, instead chose to blame the attack on a Youtube video and actively suppress free speech.

If true, this is a remarkable scandal.  Any chance the legacy media will start asking questions?

Obama Snubs World Leaders, Plays Trivial Pursuits

Liz Peek:

President Obama is talking more and more about less and less. Appearing on “The View” this week, he described himself as “eye candy” and brought viewers up to speed on daughter Mahlia’s new-found enthusiasm for tennis. Perhaps Mr. Obama could have spent his time more profitably meeting with other world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly, as every single one of his predecessors has.

According to a Pew survey conducted last June, our standing in every foreign country but Russia and Japan has dropped since President Obama took office. Moreover, confidence in Obama has tanked in the past three years in all countries surveyed, including Russia and Japan. Meanwhile, the Middle East is in flames and Iran creeps ever closer to possessing nuclear weapons. China is emboldened, Syria descends into horror and Afghanistan teeters on catastrophe. Imagine deciding that “The View” was more important than diplomacy.

\

Why You Shouldn't Buy Into The Negative Polls

It is just another example of the media driving the narrative.

It's A Dirty Job

But Mike Rowe is campaigning with Mitt Romney in Ohio.

I wonder if this has anything to do with his decision.

America Falls To 18th In Economic Freedom

Having dropped from 12th since 2009.

Why does this matter?

Smart Diplomacy

Via Hot Air:  NYT - Obama overruled Hillary Clinton, foreign-policy advisers on Mubarak.

It goes on - "The tensions between Mr. Obama and the Gulf states, both American and Arab diplomats say, derive from an Obama character trait: he has not built many personal relationships with foreign leaders. 'He’s not good with personal relationships; that’s not what interests him,' said one United States diplomat. 'But in the Middle East, those relationships are essential. The lack of them deprives D.C. of the ability to influence leadership decisions.'"