# why isn't anyone doing a better job calling Romney on his BS? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 25, 2012, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795 "2012-10-25T03:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/41 "2012-10-25T13:00:48Z")
I’m surprised no one’s pointed out that while _all_ politicians lie, Mittens comes off more sleazy about it… ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/42 "2012-10-25T13:07:19Z")
People do call Romney on his lying, but it doesn’t matter. The Republicans have figured out that the truth simply does not matter. Tell the people that you’re going to cut their taxes, leave their benefits alone, and jack up military spending and that will magically balance the budget at the same time. It doesn’t matter that it’s impossible. It doesn’t matter that their plan on Tuesday in 180 degrees different than their story on Monday. It doesn’t matter if they voted for something that they currently detest. None of it matters. If you tell people what you think they want to hear, they’ll vote for you. They know that they can tell the biggest whoppers with impunity, because the press will bend over backwards to find something with a little cherry-picked spin from the other side, then they’ll proclaim pompously “both sides do it”. When the public gets sophisticated enough to hold lies against a candidate, they’ll stop lying. But don’t hold your breath, with the nation roughly equally split, what the Republicans do is lie shamelessy to the low-information voters that they need, knowing that this group is too lazy to figure out that they’re getting lied to. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/43 "2012-10-25T13:09:20Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > What is this in response to? The OP? > > “Why isn’t anyone doing a better job of calling Romney on his BS?” > > “Every five minutes on the dot.” > > If you’re saying that someone does come up with a better call on Romney’s BS that frequently, I think you’re being overly optimistic, but I agree in principle. It does happen pretty regularly. You shouldn’t make it so obvious that you don’t read threads before posting. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/44 "2012-10-25T13:10:14Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > It’s also pure bullshit to suggest that the Obama administration has been corrupt. I’d sure like to see such a charge be supported by the evidence. This administration has been the cleanest in my lifetime. Remember back under the Bush admin foe instance when TPM could maintain the GOP police blotter bit? That’s just **adaher** , jumping in to change the subject whenever his guy starts to look bad. Which is always… ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/45 "2012-10-25T13:24:01Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > You shouldn’t make it so obvious that you don’t read threads before posting. Or that I read the thread, but decided that was an appropriate interpretation of **adaher** ’s position on Romney. ---
**Author:** ![Aestivalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Aestivalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aestivalis)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/46 "2012-10-25T13:26:19Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > What is this in response to? The OP? > > “Why isn’t anyone doing a better job of calling Romney on his BS?” > > “Every five minutes on the dot.” > > If you’re saying that someone does come up with a better call on Romney’s BS that frequently, I think you’re being overly optimistic, but I agree in principle. It does happen pretty regularly. Please be fair, he’s talking about dontbesojumpy’s multiposts. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/47 "2012-10-25T13:29:18Z")
There are a lot of reasons behind the media’s failure to call Romney on his bullshit, but the main one is that no one is really listening. Half the people don’t care what he says, and the other half think everything he says is a lie. It looks the same from the other side when considering Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/48 "2012-10-25T13:46:17Z")
I dunno, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. In fact, we’d better **don’t be so jumpy**. Speaking of which, enquiring minds would like to know about the relative sleaziness of politicians’ lies. Why isn’t anybody mentioning this? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/49 "2012-10-25T13:53:10Z")
A lot of people who cover elections are more interested in strategy and electoral map hypotheticals and easy-to-digest narratives about the campaign and momentum and gaffes than in digging into more controversial subjects like serious evaluation of the candidates, their positions, and (particularly in Romney’s case) the fact that is very free in lying about his own statements and policies on most issues. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/50 "2012-10-25T14:04:00Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > A lot of people who cover elections are more interested in strategy and electoral map hypotheticals and easy-to-digest narratives about the campaign and momentum and gaffes than in digging into more controversial subjects like serious evaluation of the candidates, their positions, and (particularly in Romney’s case) the fact that is very free in lying about his own statements and policies on most issues. It’s a horse race, with favorites, longshots, quick starts, momentum shifts, comebacks, predictions, suspense, close finishes, winners, and losers. Whether any given policy might actually work is of interest only to wonks. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/51 "2012-10-25T18:13:54Z")
What’s going on here is that many of you are living in a fantasy world where one candidate is an honest, upstanding guy and the other is a lying sleazebag. How come the media doesn’t see that? Because they’ve been around and they know that’s politics. If there’s a particularly blatant lie going on they’ll jump on it, but the usual political BS and flip-flopping barely gets noticed. Which candidate is the more dishonest is a legitimate subject for debate. Where many of you go wrong is in assuming it’s just open and shut that Romney is worse and the media should agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/52 "2012-10-25T18:19:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Which candidate is the more dishonest is a legitimate subject for debate. Where many of you go wrong is in assuming it’s just open and shut that Romney is worse and the media should agree with you. It is open and shut. I won’t give gold stars to Obama for honesty, but it’s clear that Romney will say anything to get elected. It is impossible for anyone to honestly hold the number of mutually exclusive positions on issues that he has. Obama is just a run of the mill politician in this category. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/53 "2012-10-25T18:22:17Z")
Rolling Stone Magazine: [Obama calls Romney a “Bullshitter.”](http://www.politico.com/playbook/1012/playbook9315.html) > [@](#): > > FIRST LOOK – Rolling Stone cover, “Obama and the Road Ahead: The Rolling Stone Interview,” by Douglas Brinkley: “We arrived at the Oval Office for our 45-minute interview … on the morning of October 11th. … As we left the Oval Office, executive editor Eric Bates told Obama that he had asked his six-year-old if there was anything she wanted him to say to the president. … [S]he said, ‘Tell him: You can do it.’ Obama grinned. … ‘You know, kids have good instincts,’ Obama offered. ‘ **They look at the other guy and say, “Well, that’s a bullshitter, I can tell.** ”’” So, on October 11th 2012 we have documented proof that Obama did in fact call Romney on his BS. I assume he hasn’t stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/54 "2012-10-25T18:24:05Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Which candidate is the more dishonest is a legitimate subject for debate. Where many of you go wrong is in assuming it’s just open and shut that Romney is worse and the media should agree with you. When you have a choice between a single glowing charcoal and a halogen bulb for lighting up a dark room, are you going to waste time pondering exactly how much light the charcoal gives off? ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/55 "2012-10-25T18:36:27Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It is open and shut. I won’t give gold stars to Obama for honesty, but it’s clear that Romney will say anything to get elected. It is impossible for anyone to honestly hold the number of mutually exclusive positions on issues that he has. Obama is just a run of the mill politician in this category. This is true. Obama has his weak points and has made political calculations, but at least you believe he has some core convictions, i.e. his positions are at least somewhat predictable. Romney, on the other hand, has displayed no deeply-held beliefs; he is an utterly generic GOP candidate. The best example of this IMO comes from the aftermath of Romney’s pick of running mate Paul Ryan. One might presume he did this because he agrees with what Ryan has been saying regarding the social safety net in general and Medicare in particular. But I’d argue that rather than leading to a more-clearly defined Romney, it’s led to a more generic Ryan. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/56 "2012-10-25T19:01:13Z")
Obama to face impeachment: news at 11 President uses barnyard epithet to malign Romney’s honesty. Vulgar Pres demeans dignity of office House to hold hearings on “BSgate” Sorry–just practicing writing ledes for Fox News ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/57 "2012-10-25T19:03:46Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > When you have a choice between a single glowing charcoal and a halogen bulb for lighting up a dark room, are you going to waste time pondering exactly how much light the charcoal gives off? I’d fully expect Adaher, OMG, Ditka et al to have a “GLOWING CHARCOAL 2012” sign in their front yard. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/58 "2012-10-25T19:11:52Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > When you have a choice between a single glowing charcoal and a halogen bulb for lighting up a dark room, are you going to waste time pondering exactly how much light the charcoal gives off? And, that’s why I think many of you are living in an alternate reality. It’s a common thing, minimizing the flaws of the guy you like while magnifying the flaws of the guy you don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/59 "2012-10-25T19:15:06Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And, that’s why I think many of you are living in an alternate reality. It’s a common thing, minimizing the flaws of the guy you like while magnifying the flaws of the guy you don’t like. no, u ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795/60 "2012-10-25T19:17:30Z")
Personal commentary doesn’t belong in this forum, **adaher**. Stop now. **pseudotriton ruber ruber** , that also goes for responding in kind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-anyone-doing-a-better-job-calling-romney-on-his-bs/638795.md?page=4)