# So What Else Does Mother Jones Have Up Her Sleeve? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 18, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093 "2012-09-18T19:03:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/1 "2012-09-18T19:03:03Z")
Or rather, what else did Romney say at that fund-raiser? Yesterday, Mother Jones released the portion of the tape showing Romney dissing almost half the electorate. Today, they release the portion where he states that his Mid-east policy would be to kick the ball down the road and hope something happens. I’m starting to think that Mother Jones may have adopted a “Highlight of the Day” approach, to get maximum effect. So are Mitt’s team politely prodding his memory right now to see what else he may have opined on that night? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/2 "2012-09-18T19:06:36Z")
I like the part disclosed yesterday where he said the economy would magically improve if he won the election, and that he didn’t actually have to _do_ anything. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/3 "2012-09-18T19:09:02Z")
No need to wonder. The full video is now up at the Mother Jones website. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/4 "2012-09-18T21:06:21Z")
So, as it now seems to stand, Romney will do nothing about (a) the economy, which will somehow right itself, (b) the Middle East, which will somehow sort itself out, © all those lame-assed people who don’t pay taxes and are professional victims, and (d) pretty much everything else. He’s coming across more and more like someone who feels that he is owed the presidency as some sort of perk because he’s wealthy, but has no intention of performing the duties of office in more than a perfunctory way. That would leave whomever he brings on board with him in charge of the country, much like Bush abdicated to Cheney, Rove, et al, which very nearly bankrupted us at a very personal level. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/5 "2012-09-19T00:37:36Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > …He’s coming across more and more like someone who feels that he is owed the presidency as some sort of perk because he’s wealthy, but has no intention of performing the duties of office in more than a perfunctory way… He is also owed the presidency because he’s handsome, looks like a president, isn’t Newt Gingrich (point 2), boring, stiff and self-made. I copy the below, from a conservative email sent to me by my father, as evidence: > [@](#): > > Top Ten Reasons To Dislike Mitt Romney: > > 1. Drop-dead, collar-ad handsome with gracious, statesmanlike aura. Looks like every central casting’s #1 choice for Commander-in-Chief. > 2. Been married to ONE woman his entire life, and has been faithful to her, including through her bouts with breast cancer and MS. > 3. No scandals or skeletons in his closet. (How boring is that?) > 4. Can’t speak in a fake, southern, “black preacher voice” when necessary. > 5. Highly intelligent. Graduated cum laude from both Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School…and by the way, his academic records are NOT sealed. > 6. Doesn’t smoke or drink alcohol, and has never done drugs, not even in the counter-culture age when he went to college. Too square for today’s America? > 7. Represents an America of “yesterday”, where people believed in God, went to Church, didn’t screw around, worked hard, and became a SUCCESS! > 8. Has a family of five great sons…and none of them have police records or are in drug rehab. But of course, they were raised by a stay-at-home mom, and that “choice” deserves America’s scorn. > > - > 1. Oh yes…he’s a MORMON. We need to be very afraid of that very strange religion that teaches its members to be clean-living, patriotic, fiscally conservative, charitable, self-reliant, and honest. > > 1. And one more point…pundits say because of his wealth, he can’t relate to ordinary Americans. I guess that’s because he made that money HIMSELF…as opposed to marrying it or inheriting it from Dad. > Apparently, he didn’t understand that actually working at a job and earning your own money made you unrelatable to Americans. > > - Why is being a Mormon considered a thing of concern, but being a muslum isn’t? More weirdness! > My goodness, it’s a strange world, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/6 "2012-09-19T01:06:04Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > He is also owed the presidency because he’s handsome, looks like a president, isn’t Newt Gingrich (point 2), boring, stiff and self-made. I copy the below, > from a conservative email sent to me by my father, as evidence: Am I drunk? Those points seem to be aimed at drawing a comparison, but I must be stewpid because I just don’t get it. Am I a bit playing in Quantumn Leap or Stargate or whatever where there are all sorts of alternate worlds? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/7 "2012-09-19T01:07:33Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > He is also owed the presidency because he’s handsome, looks like a president, isn’t Newt Gingrich (point 2), boring, stiff and self-made. I copy the below, > from a conservative email sent to me by my father, as evidence: You have my sympathies. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/8 "2012-09-19T01:10:06Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Today, they release the portion where he states that his Mid-east policy would be to kick the ball down the road and hope something happens. And that’s different from Obama’s approach, how? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/9 "2012-09-19T01:13:06Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. No scandals or skeletons in his closet. So where _does_ he keep his tax returns? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/10 "2012-09-19T01:37:53Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > And that’s different from Obama’s approach, how? I think you can accuse Obama of many things, but an inactive policy with regards to the Middle East isn’t one of them. Go ask Qaddafi. Take a close look at his handling of the Arab Spring: “Our message is simple: If you take the risks that reform entails, you will have the full support of the United States,” backed by trade partnerships with Egypt and Tunisia. Al Qaeda has been “Decimated” in the words of national security expert Fred Kaplan. Bin Laden is swimming with the fishes. Insofar as the Israeli/Palestinian situation is concerned, Obama’s policies are in broad consistency with American precedent and national interests. In contrast, Romney is a dangerous clown. Fred Kaplan: Then there was his pledge to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s true capital and to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv. Does Romney know that every American president, dating back to Harry Truman, has declined to take a position on Jerusalem’s status precisely because it’s in dispute (at the time with Jordan)? Or that the Oslo accords of 1993, in an update of this acknowledgment, stated that the city’s status must be resolved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations? In short, does Romney realize that he’s promising to overturn 64 years of U.S. foreign policy, the 19-year-old Oslo accords, and the basic premise of a two-state solution (which most Israelis favor)? Or, like many American politicians who make this same pledge on their brief stopovers, was he merely pandering? Now I doubt this will shift any votes. I’m just saying that today’s conservative is profoundly nonserious. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/11 "2012-09-19T01:41:25Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > So, as it now seems to stand, Romney will do nothing about (a) the economy, which will somehow right itself, (b) the Middle East, which will somehow sort itself out, (c) all those lame-assed people who don’t pay taxes and are professional victims, and (d) pretty much everything else. He’s coming across more and more like someone who feels that he is owed the presidency as some sort of perk because he’s wealthy, but has no intention of performing the duties of office in more than a perfunctory way. That would leave whomever he brings on board with him in charge of the country, much like Bush abdicated to Cheney, Rove, et al, which very nearly bankrupted us at a very personal level. Those of us who remember his governorship are profoundly unsurprised. I’ve long said about Romney that his most deeply held conviction is that his hair would look \*awesome \*in the Oval Office. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/12 "2012-09-19T01:50:38Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > I think you can accuse Obama of many things, but an inactive policy with regards to the Middle East isn’t one of them. Go ask Qaddafi. Take a close look at his handling of the Arab Spring: “Our message is simple: If you take the risks that reform entails, you will have the full support of the United States,” backed by trade partnerships with Egypt and Tunisia. Al Qaeda has been “Decimated” in the words of national security expert Fred Kaplan. Bin Laden is swimming with the fishes. > > Insofar as the Israeli/Palestinian situation is concerned, Obama’s policies are in broad consistency with American precedent and national interests. In contrast, Romney is a dangerous clown. Fred Kaplan: Then there was his pledge to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s true capital and to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv. Does Romney know that every American president, dating back to Harry Truman, has declined to take a position on Jerusalem’s status precisely because it’s in dispute (at the time with Jordan)? Or that the Oslo accords of 1993, in an update of this acknowledgment, stated that the city’s status must be resolved through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations? > > In short, does Romney realize that he’s promising to overturn 64 years of U.S. foreign policy, the 19-year-old Oslo accords, and the basic premise of a two-state solution (which most Israelis favor)? > > Or, like many American politicians who make this same pledge on their brief stopovers, was he merely pandering? Now I doubt this will shift any votes. I’m just saying that today’s conservative is profoundly nonserious. Long story short, it’s exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/13 "2012-09-19T02:07:48Z")
Short story short, newcomer has no response to that. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/14 "2012-09-19T02:15:31Z")
One of my favorite things Mitt had to say was how they are using Ann (Romney) sparingly because they don’t want the world to get sick of her. 😃 He’s a gem. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/15 "2012-09-19T02:51:34Z")
I think it would be great if they caught him using the N-word or some other pejorative like that. I know, I’m evil. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/16 "2012-09-19T04:20:08Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > And that’s different from Obama’s approach, how? Well, there was that one guy, Bin Laden? Maybe you’ve heard of him. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/17 "2012-09-19T05:36:31Z")
That video is big news among the people in my FB contacts list who make and respond to political posts. One thing has me scratching my head, though: Several people have posted comments and quotes that suggest that Gov. Romney actually used the word “_ **grifters** _” when he characterized 47% of the populace as “seeing themselves as victims, who depend on government” (paraphrased by me). The news reports I heard today on the radio are notable for _not_ including any mention of him using that word, and for not playing any excerpts in which he is heard to utter the word. I’m beginning to wonder if he did at all (although I would LOVE to learn that he actually did). Anybody know anything about this? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/18 "2012-09-19T07:01:46Z")
Here’s the key quote: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. There are 47 percent who are with him: who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it–that that’s an entitlement, and the government should give it to them. They will vote for this president no matter what…. **These are people who pay no income tax….** \*\* [M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.\*\* Emphasis added. “Moochers” and “Grifters” is implicit here. With the help of the WSJ editorial page, this POV isn’t an exotic one, however offensive and factually challenged it is. The guy from Redstate pushed this POV about a year ago. That said, your friends are probably riffing off of [Krugman](http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/taxes-over-the-life-cycle/). [More scary liberal stuff](http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/when-the-inner-party-believes-the-prolefeed/). ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/19 "2012-09-19T08:51:53Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I think it would be great if they caught him using the N-word or some other pejorative like that. He’d probably be smart enough to -uh cut off mid sentence, even Santorum was capable of that. Though if they did have it, when would they release it? Immediately, in a fervour? Or release it when he addresses his black caucus for maximum effect? ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093/20 "2012-09-19T14:07:45Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Short story short, newcomer has no response to that. Are Palestinians any better tan 4 yours ago? Didn’t think so! > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Well, there was that one guy, Bin Laden? Maybe you’ve heard of him. What does Bin Laden have to do with Palestinians? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-else-does-mother-jones-have-up-her-sleeve/635093.md?page=2)